Failure Doesn’t Exist

I have been afraid of what I thought failure was for as long as I can remember. When I was very young I thought failure was doing anything that my parents thought was wrong or something that I would get in trouble for. I also thought that failure was getting bad grades in school. As I grew older and was finishing up high school I started to view failure as not going to college and not doing what my peers were doing on exactly the same timeline. I struggled with that for quite a few years after high school. I felt like a failure because I decided not to go to college despite what those around me said. I was not in a relationship. I didn’t think or act the same as those in my small circle. My dreams were considered crazy and unrealistic and people told me that. At that time I viewed my whole life as a failure. I couldn’t recognize the awesome things I had done or was doing. I was not proud of myself. It destroyed my mental health. I became more insecure and unsure of who I was or wanted to be. It took me a few years and a move to another state to truly be able to see myself for the amazing person I am. As you all know I am a huge believer in affirmations and hyping yourself up. This is exactly why. Because if you don’t do it who will? It is nice to think that those around you will do that for you but that is not always the case and that can be for many reasons. It doesn’t matter. You can be your own self esteem booster! Some day people may come into your life who give you recognition and confidence but it is still very important for you to believe in and root for yourself.

Back to failure. You may have seen the title of this post and thought, “What? Failure doesn’t exist?” That is correct it DOES NOT EXIST. Anything we consider as failure is really just an experience. It is something that led you to something else. One of the definitions of failure is, “An unsuccessful person, enterprise, or thing.” Now to consider something unsuccessful you have to first evaluate your definition of success. I believe everyone has a different personal definition of success. Some people believe success if climbing the corporate ladder. Some believe success is having a family. Some believe success is traveling the world. Once you know what you consider success in your life you have a better understanding of what you view as “failure.” In reality failure of any kind doesn’t exist. You may feel like you have failed in something when in reality someone else may view that as a success. Failure and success are relative. Those experiences have pointed you in the direction you are going and as long as you keep going there is no reason to consider anything a “failure.”

I personally am working on changing my mindset of what I view as failure. I don’t even like using the word anymore. I only view those things as experiences. And let me tell you how good that feels! I have lived the majority of my life in fear of something that doesn’t exist. I have been so afraid of something not working out that it has crippled me from even trying. I have said for a long time that I am just going to go for things and not think about what could go wrong but what I didn’t know was that I had to first change my mindset to be able to truly change and go for what I want. I am not at all saying that I am completely changed and not scared but what I am saying is that I am working on myself and my mind in order to give myself the strength I need to create the life I want and dream about.