Failure Is Normal

Daily writing prompt

Share a lesson you wish you had learned earlier in life.

I wished that I had learned failure was normal and that it was expected. It’s hard to get over this thinking if you were conditioned to believe that you can’t ever fail. And, that if you fail, you were no longer worthy of success so you’re not aloud to try again because “once you’re a failure, you’re always a failure.”

Since the birth of my two daughters, I’ve taught them that failure was normal and that it’s expected. I’ve taught them that you have to keep trying and that failure’s purpose is growth. You can’t know what you’re capable of if you only do things that make you succeed…or basically, things that are easy.

There is a limit to failure, and the only person who knows this is you. If you fail a few times, and quit because you’ve learned that thing wasn’t your thing, then you’ve achieved some success. You’ve learned something about your capabilities. If you fail and there is still a spark in you to keep trying because the excitement of accomplishing that thing is still burning in you, then just keep going.

I wish this (“failure is normal”) was instilled in me at a younger age because sometimes, I get so down on myself that I don’t want to do anything because I know I’ll just fail. That’s really bad thinking and self-sabotaging. Often, I pick myself up again and go at it again, but I know that if only I had had a different upbringing regarding failure, I’d be less hard on myself, and enjoy the learning process much more. I’ve learned to know not to be self-sabotaging, but at the end of the day, certain things become hard-wired and they are hard to get over.