What seemed like complete failure was really the starting point for the greatest revolution in my life. Several years ago, all my attempts to build my motivational speaking career had fallen short. I had tried everything that I knew to launch this career, but nothing seemed to work. I had explored motivational speaking as far as I could. It was now time to move on to a new path, which created lots of fear and confusion about the future.
It was a huge emotional let down for me to let go of motivational speaking. I knew I needed to do some deep emotional healing and inner work if I was going to regain my perspective about my future. I turned to reading spiritual, metaphysical self help books, which became my teachers during this time of transition.
Reading Louise L. Hay's books began a powerful revolution within my life as I learned about how our thoughts create our experiences. That idea was revolutionary to me because it empowered me in a whole new way. I began the continuous process of examining my thoughts and seeing the connection of what they had created in my life. I shifted from seeing myself as a helpless, powerless victim of life into learning how to become a more empowered participant in my life. Working with my thoughts remains a process that I am committed to doing for the rest of my life journey.
If I had not reached a low point in my life, I might not have learned about the power of our thoughts. The more I learned about my thoughts and how to work with them, I wanted to share what I had learned with others. My future became clearer as I realized that my writing would be the vehicle to share empowering and inspiring ideas with others. A greater vision of what to do with my life and how to serve others slowly started to come into place as a result of my setback with public speaking.
What seems like failure can really be an opening to an even greater opportunity for us. Failure can lead us down a road to even bigger and better opportunities. Failure can force us to stop where we are and open ourselves up to whatever we have not been willing to examine about ourselves and our lives. Failure can take us higher than we ever imagined if we challenge ourselves to find the deeper meaning of it.
We are taught to fear and avoid failure at all costs. We see no value or meaning in failure. Instead failure becomes a personal indictment against us. We believe that we are not good enough in some way when we meet failure. We may doubt ourselves and our future chances at success.
Maybe it is time to see failure in a new, more empowering light. Sure failure usually delivers a stinging blow to our ego, which expected to get what it wanted. Failure can make us feel like a fool after we have invested time and energy into pursuing goal without getting what we wanted. But beyond not getting what we want, we can begin to see how failure can be the starting point of so much more. Failure could be telling us that we may need to move onto a different path and see what a new path has to offer us instead of trying to force our way ahead on our current path. Failure may be a call for us to stop pursuing and do some self reflection or even learn something new. We may not be emotionally ready to handle what we are seeking, so failure delays our efforts until we can get ourselves ready.
Failure can also be teaching us to not get so emotionally tied to getting what we want. We usually take failure personally instead of emotionally detaching ourselves from the outcome. In life, all we can ever do is try and see what happens. We are winners, regardless of the result. We are always benefiting from the result, whether it is what we want or not. When we come to accept that we are always winning, then we can begin looking for what lessons and possibilities come with failure. Failure can lead us to unexpected, unlikely teachers whom we probably ignored or could not see in the past.
Failure is never a reason to lose faith in ourselves. We are not hopelessly flawed or destined to be denied of getting what we want in life. We need to cultivate patience and trust that we are always benefiting from our experiences.
At times, failure can be a very demanding teacher. We are emotionally raw and vulnerable in the face of failure. Sometimes, we have to reach a point of nothingness before we can build ourselves back up to an even higher place than we were before. Failure forces us to come face-to-face with ourselves and go within to listen to our instincts during our lowest moments. Failure teaches us to connect with ourselves at the deepest level and use what we find to build our way back up. Failure is often the catalyst that helps us to unearth truths hidden within our souls that will help us to do more with our lives. Failure can open our minds up to consider new and different possibilities that we would have rejected in the past. In a funny way, when we reach complete failure, we are more bold and daring to try anything because we know that we have already hit the lowest point. We cannot go any lower, so we have nothing left to lose. Our inner resistance has gone away in the face of failure so we are willing to try new ideas.
Sometimes, we may not like what we find within ourselves when we have to confront failure. What we find makes us feel uncomfortable. We may not know what to do with what we find. We may only find partial answers to the puzzle that we are trying to figure out. In my experience, failure is yet another teacher encouraging us to trust ourselves and to trust life. Failure is also teaching us to be patient for the answers, which unfold gradually rather than come all at once. The aftermath of failure leaves us vulnerable and raw, but we need faith that clarity will return again as we make our way in the unknown.
The next time you run into failure, stop and search for the deeper meaning. Resist seeing failure as a meaningless, cruel end point. See it as a starting point for something new and exciting in your life. It is a signal that you are about to grow in powerful, new ways. Never take failure personally. You are good enough and life always supports you. Trust that you are moving on to better days and that you will be better off, whether you always get what you want or not. Life is never denying you and giving to someone else. Get rid of feeling sorry for yourself and casting yourself as a loser. You are always being blessed in life. Just be open to exploring the new possibilities and paths that are opening up to you.
Copyright©2008 Jeannine Robinson All Rights Reserved