Fail Your Way To The Top

The only difference between stumbling blocks and stepping stones is the way in which we use them!

Have you had a challenging day or week? Feel a little tired or discouraged with a current situation? Ready to throw in the towel and quit something?

Don't worry. It's very normal to go through times of feeling that something in life stinks and all there is to see and feel is the current mess.

Here is something neat to ponder during those times, though. When doing battle with discouraged feelings, take a look at this report and reflect on this man's record of failure. It is a testament to how humans can learn and grow and win despite the losses and defeats.

Failed in business-------------------------------------1831

Defeated for legislature------------------------------1832

Failed in business again----------------------------1833

Elected to legislature---------------------------------1834

Sweetheart died----------------------------------------1835

Nervous breakdown------------------------------------1836

Defeated for speaker----------------------------------1838

Defeated for land officer------------------------------1843

Defeated for congress--------------------------------1843

Elected to congress-----------------------------------1846

Defeated for re-election-------------------------------1848

Defeated for senate------------------------------------1855

Defeated for vice president--------------------------1856

Defeated for senate------------------------------------1858

Elected President--------------------------------------1860

Who was he?

He was a simple, uneducated, country boy who refused to allow his uncongenial circumstances to stop him. He refused to be a victim. He refused to accept failure. He refused to listen to people who told him he was crazy. He refused to stay down when he felt like nothing was going his way.

Simply put, he picked himself up no matter what and kept on going after his dream. He educated himself and did whatever it took to keep moving in the direction of his passions.

Who was he? Abraham Lincoln.

If you reflect back on your life, you can find patterns of the times you grew the most. Many of those times were probably a result of some kind of previous 'failure,' maybe even a series of them.

Remember: children don't fail when they are learning to walk. They fall down over and over again. It is the falling that teaches them and strengthens them.

Each failure is a learning experience. And the faster people pick themselves up, reflect on the past occurrence and go again, the faster they can achieve their goals and dreams.

So with this in mind, choose the one thing that may not be going exactly as you wish right now and do one thing to move you closer to achieving the result you want. And remember, life is about learning and growing.

by John Assara