Failure by Default

I love this quote!!  There is just something wonderful about Harry Potter and his world.  He teaches us that there is really evil in the world, but also that people you think are bad, can change.  He teaches us that he world is not always what you see.  That there is so much hidden from muggle view. 

It is impossible to live without failing something, yet I face my life trying to never fail at anything.  Failure makes me feel like a "loser".  Failure is not something I want or desire.  Yet, it happens one time after another. 

No matter how hard I try, I fail at something each and every day.  Maybe that is why I love this quote so much.  It reminds me that no matter how good we are, we will all experience failure.  Failure is how we learn.  It is how we progress.  It is how we move on.

Take for example, one of my sons.  He was an amazing athlete.  He could play any sport.  His favorite was football and he played from the time that he was seven years old and could go into Pop Warner.  Not only did he play, but he learned to do it very well.  So well, that he was able to go to college with a scholarship.   Football was good to him.  But not good enough.  His dream was always to play for the NFL.  He never got to do that.  

Once, when he was very young, he played little league.  He quickly became good at that too.  He was the only one on his team that could hit a ball thrown 90 miles per hour.  In 8th grade, one of the coaches wanted him to go out for baseball.  He even said that they would teach him everything he needed to know.  He thought that my son had what it would take to become a great catcher.  But my son would not play.  He wasn't as good at that game.  He hadn't played all his life to do baseball.  His dream was football and he wanted to chase his dream.

He never tried baseball because he wouldn't have been the best at it.  

Sometimes we are all a little like my son.  We don't want to try new things.  We don't want to risk failing and looking bad to our peers or our friends.  We are taught that failure should not be an option.  

But I believe that failure is simply a way that we learn.  We keep trying until we get it right, or until we don't want to try anymore.  Everything in my life, I learned by failing.  When you skate, you fall, a lot.  When you drive, you speed or stop or can make the gears go in right and they grind.  When you learn to run, you come in last, you keep trying and increasing your speed and pushing your limits.  And you get better.  

So, live and fail and live some more.  This life is amazing.  There are places to go and things to see and wonderful experiences.  Don't be afraid of a little failure along with all the possibilities of success.  My greatest lessons in life have come when I have failed at something.  And perhaps that is what really living is all about. 
President Monson has told each of us that we are runners in the race of life.

“Comforting is the fact that there are many runners,” he said. “Reassuring is the knowledge that our Eternal Scorekeeper is understanding. Challenging is the truth that each must run. But you and I do not run alone. That vast audience of family, friends, and leaders will cheer our courage, will applaud our determination as we rise from our stumblings and pursue our goal. ... Let us shed any thought of failure. ... Let us seek; let us obtain the prize prepared for all, even exaltation in the celestial kingdom of God” (“Happiness—The Universal Quest,” Ensign, Oct. 1993).