Real Success Starts With Failure 

I know many people will dislike the above words, but they are true.  The kind of real success that I am talking about is much more than society’s version of success, i.e., a big house, a fancy car and a wad of money.  Funny thing is that I happen to know people like that, we all do.  Many times those people are not successful because there is no sense of fulfillment and not much to life beyond their career and quest for money.  There is the crowd who went to college, got a good job and has been climbing the corporate ladder, never looking back.  I am really happy for those types, if they want me to be, but I’m appealing to someone else here. 

I am talking to the man or woman who has failed and failed big!  Maybe you took a chance on business and lost, you lost all financial security and many possessions.  I am talking to the one who may have had relationships shattered or dreams fail.  The one who has experienced overwhelming heartbreak and pain.  You may have allowed your health to deteriorate to the point where you don’t think you can recover.  There are an infinite number of possible places you have failed in your life.  Some of us have had that experience in more than one area of our life.  Maybe your whole life has been one miserable failure after another.  

Maybe you have lost heart; you can’t find the courage, strength, energy or faith to continue.  You may feel that you

have hit a dead end in life.  This, you believe, is how you will finish up your miserable existence.  I have good news for you, if you will listen.  You are in a great place.  You have a chance to experience success on a level you didn’t even think was possible.  The reason?  You can appreciate it.  You know where you’ve been so the success you gain will allow you to let that appreciation shine through in everything you do.  You will appreciate when things are going well and you will appreciate the challenges, troubles and hardships that lead to personal, emotional and spiritual growth.  You will understand the words of Philippians 4:12: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”iii  When you have failed you have taken the first step towards success. 

Michael at R2W