"Failure is always an option." Adam Savage
For fans of Mythbusters, this quotation will be familiar. The first time I saw Adam wearing a t-shirt with this saying on the show, I felt a pang of regret. Regret that this saying hadn't been there for me when I was a teenager and thought the only way to succeed was through perfection. Failure was, well, failure: a bad thing every time.
Perfectionism is the most crippling attitude I've ever embraced. It's brutal, like trying to batter your way through a brick wall with your forehead.
And it does not work. Not at all.
Thank the Good Lord above, I know better now. Failure is always an option, and very often, it ends up being good thing. We learn from it things like compassion and empathy, determination, resolution, forgiveness, and acceptance. It makes us grow.
Thomas Edison's attitude was this: "If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward." Adopting this attitude has helped me in my crafting (dare I call it art?) and in life in general.
How has failure helped you?
All the failures I've had trying to craft a picture book for children that explains God's love for us through His creation have brought me a little closer to the story and pictures I'm looking for. I've been working on it for over four years and every time someone critiques it and finds places for improvement, I cringe. Then a day later after I've stopped feeling sorry for myself, I go back to the drawing board and inevitably the next attempt is just a little better.
ReplyDeleteReally like this quote. And it is something I should make into a wall hanging. DH just printed off your thoughts on this. Tonight his basketball team is having a "bonding" party and he is thinking that this would be a good point to bring up.
ReplyDeleteSo, thanks for sharing!
I tried responding to this yesterday but was denied by Blogger or somebody. But I persevere! Thomas Edison would be so proud. He would also like the four lightbulbs in this room, but that isn't important.
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