The Value of Failure

Is it a bad thing to fail? I recently had a child who wanted to accomplish something that he said was important to him not follow through. In the end, he found that he would not earn the recognition that he was seeking. Though I was disappointed that he didn't do his part to earn the recognition, I found that the experience was good for him.

He learned that good things don't always come easily and that without effort and a good attitude, he may fail to achieve his goals. It was a learning experience for him because of his failure.

In much the same manner, preparing for future events that may occur is an experience filled with opportunity to succeed of fail. I failed for years to do gardening right. I tried on my own with a poor excuse of a gardening book to get a garden to work. I neither put the effort into the garden, or research.

After several years of licking my wounds, I tried again with more research and much more effort in the garden. With small successes, my confidence grew. With more research and some good mentoring, I am moving beyond my initial scope to a much grander scale. Success has come with knowledge and effort.

My wife and I are working on learning more about storing what we grow. We have been successful in storing dry goods, but it is now time for us to go even further. In the process, we are educating our children in self-sufficiency and a good work ethic. It is not always easy, but it is definitely worth the effort, and we are seeing the dividends.

Don't bite off more than you can chew, but do bite and chew. Once you get the sweet savor of success in your effort, you will want more.

- Mark

Value is based on perception.