What Is Wrong with Failure?

What Is Wrong with Failure?
I have crashed and burned several times in my life—in a race car, in business and in relationships. I have made some pretty major mistakes, and they have cost me a lot. I used to really beat myself up over them. Now I realize the real cost was the time and energy I wasted on feeling sorry for myself or on not moving forward because I was so caught up in the past, where all my energies were focused.
Not until I was able to let go of the past and concentrate on today did I truly learn how to live. I learned to embrace the mistakes and failures as life lessons. I believe I may have created these challenges in my life to help me grow and to prepare myself to handle anything that comes my way. My failures have given me the strength to be successful.
From Portrait of an Achiever:
-1832 Failed in business: bankruptcy
-1832 Defeated for legislature
-1834 Failed in business: bankruptcy
-1835 Fiancé died
-1836 Nervous breakdown
-1838 Defeated in election
-1843 Defeated for U.S. Congress
-1848 Defeated for U.S. Congress
-1855 Defeated for U.S. Senate
-1856 Defeated for Vice President
-1858 Defeated for U.S. Senate
-1860 Abraham Lincoln Elected President of the United States of America
Abraham Lincoln shows us that failure can overcome us only if we let it. Those who are truly successful take life’s hardships and setbacks and use them as preparation for the next challenge. The lesson in all this: Use life’s challenges to build character and strength to move forward with your life.
Erik Elsea
www.erikelsea.com
Quote of the Day! - “Strength is built by one’s failures, not by one’s successes.”- Coco Channel