My blond hair phase.
My first year of college.
Cross-country running.
My first attempt at street witnessing.
Crocs.
My attempt at owning a flower shop.
My second year of college.
Taking tap dancing classes.
Thinking I could cook cookies without a recipe.
Quilting.
Watching Anna Karenina.
Trying to draw faces.
Gardening.
My second attempt at my second year of college.
Not wearing underwear.
Trying to be popular.
Trying to read Tale of Two Cities.
Eating at Sonic.
Almost twenty years ago, John Maxwell wrote a book called “Failing Forward”. I remember, as a newlywed, that my new husband was ranting and raving about this concept of being able to be healthy after failure. At the time, I nodded in agreement, that this was revolutionary, but the truth was: I couldn’t even imagine it being possible.
I COULD NOT FAIL!
I would not let me fail, because my self-esteem was so low. Any sign of failure or suggestion of a mistake would throw me into a tailspin of depression. My husband (the one person I should let speak into my life) couldn’t suggest anything to me negative or I’d become manic, extremely offended and I would start a huge fight.
I couldn’t let people around me see me fail. I became obsessed with a high level of perfection in everything. I was unforgiving and judgmental of everyone and everything. And my relationships truly suffered.
I was far from perfect in most areas of my life and it ate away at me. I was so very tired, depressed, and almost to the point of adrenal fatigue. I knew something had to change. I set up standards for myself and others that could rarely be met.
What changed? As I started to get to know God and His true loving peaceful character, I knew it contradicted the way I was living my life. God slowly guided me towards freedom and truth.
New life motto: FAILURE IS A MUST!
My husband works in Silicon Valley in Northern California. Recently he told me that start up companies want CEOs that have failed at another startup! Yes you read that correctly:
We are looking for an energetic, pro-active leader who is both strategic and hands-on to propel our company to its next level of growth.
Responsibilities-
• Investor relations and fundraising
• Development of the executive team
Experience:
• Must have failed at another startup company
• Extensive mistakes must have been made in last job
• Running another business into the ground is a must
• The more money you lost the better
Any biography you read today about anybody who is a worth reading about compiles story after story of their Uber failures.
Recently I have been telling people to “Fail Often”. People look at me very oddly every time I say this. But I mean it. I want to create a culture, around me, where it’s okay to fail. I want to choose love in my relationships over producing perfection. My teens and twenties were spent trying to never fail and now my thirties are spent asking “what can I fail at next, and what will I learn from it?” I figure when I am in my eighties I’m going to be pretty friggin’ awesome!!! And boy am I going to have some stories.
So I say to you reader: “What can you fail at?”
Always Growing,
Marcy