It is Where the Lesson Gets Learned

I am halfway through sharing the pieces I included in the book I created for my friend Maya. She is a bright, talented, motivated young woman who is leaving home for the first time to go to college. As I have reviewed the pieces I created (over 30), I noticed that several touch on the same topics yet from a different perspective. These words from Mother Teresa remind us about the importance of doing your best:

Do not allow yourself to be disappointed
by any failure, as long as you have done your best.

– Mother Teresa 1997

Notice that Mother Teresa does not say if you fail, or you might fail, she mentions ANY failure. Wise woman. She knows that no matter who you are or what you do, you are going to fail. YES! We all do and it happens to everyone…let me say that again. EVERYONE FAILS! No matter what people tell you, or who you see them as today, know that the only way they go to be who they are or in whatever position they currently hold – they failed. The people who fail a lot usually move faster. The people who lead have usually failed the most. The failure is not the problem, it is how you handle things after you fail that make all the difference.

As you lick your wounds or relive that fatal mistake, you can move forward with lessons from that failure knowing you did your best. You gave it your all. It is when you know you could have done more, done better, worked harder that the failure really hurts. When you phone it in instead of buckling down THAT is when your ego takes a big hit That is when the mistake haunts you for years. That is the time the pain sears more deeply and makes you feel like a big fat failure. AND, that is the lesson here.

Mother Teresa gave her life to her cause, which was serving the unwanted lepers of her country. There is honor, pride and self worth when you go for it and HAVE NO FEAR of doing too much. No matter what it is – your studies, dating, building your interests, finding your way, and loving your family – give it your best. Sometimes that may not be good enough, that is true. Then learn what went wrong and do it differently next time. Failure is only an opportunity to learn how to do it better next time. Success in life is not always about being number one…sometimes the number two spot suits your needs best because it is where the lesson gets learned.