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Home | Self-improvement | Inspirational
Embrace Failure 
By: Robert Brady
I see writing my autobiography as a chance to reflect on my life so far AND to see where I'm headed. It may seem weird, but I write this to hopefully motivate others to write/record their stories and to encourage them to live their lives to their fullest. This way their stories will be more meaningful and encouraging to others reading.
When I write about my own life, I invariably see areas in my life where I could improve. I remember a scripture that states that if you come unto God he will show you your weakness. I often feel the same when I approach my life. My weaknesses glaringly expose themselves to me.
My face still flushes when I recall certain events in my life. I still blush at various failures.
But what is it about failures, even past failures, that embarrasses me so much? Why do I find it difficult to confront failure?
Staring in youth, we are programmed to see failure as bad. "Don't mess up!" "Don't miss any questions!" "Let's see A's on your report this quarter!"
In school, teachers reward only the kids who conform to their way of thinking. Experimenting with ideas outside the status quo brings failing grades.
Additionally, failure extends beyond the boundaries of right or wrong answers in the classroom. Failure also includes failing to live up to expectations: rational or irrational. "I'm disappointed in you."
All too many times, we turn over our own definitions of success to others. We all define success in every area of our lives, intentionally or not. If we don't have our own definition, we will find that we work on others' success and not our own.
The point is that we want to be successful. So much so, that we avoid, no we shun/evade/steer clear of/stay away from new opportunities if we perceive a chance of failure. Let me rephrase that, we dismiss growing chances because we're too stinkin' afraid.
We're terrified.
We need to change how we think about failure. Recently, I saw something on YouTube. Yeah, YouTube. I guess they have some worthwhile videos. I bumped into a video about Spanx founder, Sara Blakely. Her father used to ask his kids what they had failed at in the previous week.
He didn't ask about how they succeeded, but how they failed. Powerful stuff.
Asking what you succeed at tends toward mediocrity. Someone shooting for success will more likely attempt things where success is more or less guaranteed.
If you're not afraid of failing, you'll try new things. You'll find areas of success where you never dreamed possible.
Have you failed at anything recently? I mean really failed.
I'm not talking about going out just to fail.
I'm saying try something different. Try something out of your comfort zone.
What's the one thing you've always wanted to be good at but have always been too afraid to try? Just do it.
Article Source: http://www.uberarticles.com/articles
Visit the discussion on Starting an Autobiography . Robert Brady's Autobiography Workshop is a fantastic tool for writing an autobiography .
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