I once heard the question:
What would you do
If you knew
You couldn’t fail?

It was a question
Poised to bring clarity –
To help someone think about
What their life’s purpose might be.

Or

What goals
In someone’s life
Are being paused
Because of their fear of failure

Or

What a person’s
Dreams and desires
Might really be.

I think it’s a great question
With a lot of value.

But I wonder if
Sometimes,
It’s more helpful
To think about:

What would I do
If I knew that I COULD fail?

In other words,
What would I do
If I was allowed to fail
Over and over,
As many times
As it took
To learn something?

And I was reminded
Of this great quote
By Thomas Edison,
Regarding the process
Of inventing things.

He said:
“I have not failed 10,000 times.
I have not failed once.
I have succeeded
In proving
That those 10,000 ways
Will not work.

When I have eliminated
The ways that will not work,
I will find the way that will work.”

And it was his willingness
To fail
Over and over
That motivated him
To keep trying
And ultimately,
Accomplish great things.

And that’s a lesson
That I want to remember,
When I feel like
I’m failing.
Because maybe he’s right.

Maybe
It’s not actually failing.

Maybe
It’s succeeding.

Succeeding at trying
And proving
All the ways
That it will not work.
So I can find
A way that WILL work.

Or in other words:
Learning.

And learning
Is precisely
Why I’m here on earth.

And maybe some things
Take 10,000 tries
Before they can be learned.

So maybe I can try
To be more patient
With my 2nd attempt.
And my 9,785th attempt.

Because I know God is patient,
And that He really wants me to learn.
So He sent Jesus
To pay the price
Of my Learning Lessons.

Because He knew
This way,
I would have plenty of room
To try –
And “fail” –
And learn.

And maybe,
And at the end of it all,
I’ll also learn
That all of that learning –
That only felt like failing –
Was actually success.

After all.