“I have not failed 700 (10,000) times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 (10,000) ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.” -Edison*

*Different sources at 700 or 10,000. I haven’t taken the time to really go through which one is (more) accurate*

Failure. Just hearing the word sounds so horrible. Whether it was an incident/task that was a failure or someone calling you a failure, it just hurts.

But is it really bad? The Edison quote is kinda motivational. It lends to a personal belief I’ve tried to cultivate and reinforces my happiness that I let my last regret (that I’m aware of) go. A failure IS a bad thing when you let it hold you back or beat you down. It is NOT a bad thing when you can learn from it and grow from that moment. Take what you can, whatever it is and apply it to the future. It’s that idea we’ve heard that we must learn from the past to keep from making the same mistakes in the future. There’s plenty of time and room for new ones.

I don’t hold any false notions that I won’t fail again. I could cite a lifetime of examples of making the same or similar mistakes over and over again. The number of women that I’ve dated that seemed so normal in the beginning… that would be for another article.

How boring would life be if everything were perfect and structured? Would we be so perfect and structured that we wouldn’t care? Not that I could envision how this would occur other than some kind of group mind. Even the Borg had their own problems it seemed. But in some ways like them, it’s the struggle, the journey to try and reach a state of having fewer repeat failures. I’m all fine for making a brand new smart failure. Then I don’t feel so bad.

-Santa’s Fallen Angel