What is failure?

For those of you who dont know, Ive been training to run the New Jersey marathon on May 2nd. Not too long ago I laced up my shoes in hopes of completing an 18 mile run. Long story short I got about 14 miles in before I had to call it quits for the day. I had officially failed for the first time in my marathon training.

The funny thing about failure is that people spend their entire lives trying to avoid it or scared of it when in reality its usually the best thing for us. Personally I think mottos such as "i refuse to fail" or "failure is not an option" are borderline comical. I prefer the slogan "failure is the ONLY option". Failure is the best proven teacher around.

Lucky for me I have been blessed with the best parents a guy could ask for. They taught me from a young age that failure was okay. They taught me that its not about how many times I failed, its how I reacted to that failure. Unfortunately for them, I think they had to learn those same lessons from me :)

I dont think failure is what drives success. I do think the mindset that causes failure is what breeds success. If I stare failure in the face and challenge myself to a degree where I know failure is a very likely possibility, only then is there a chance for unbelievable success. Is success without the risk of failure truly success or is it just finishing an already known result? I think the best successes come when there is the biggest chance of failure. Sometimes those great successes happen after the biggest failures.

Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I respond to it. -Swindoll

Later Days