Fail, fail again, fail better

Author: Pema Chodron

What do we do when life doesn't go the way we wanted it? We feel like a failure. We feel that there is something fundamentally wrong with us. But what if failure were a possibility? What if it was a direct way to become a complete, fulfilled, loving human being? We all want to be successful, we all want things to go just the way we want them to. So, by definition, failing means it didn't go the way you wanted. Pema Chödrön teaches us to face and open up to the unknown with confidence, because we never know what an event that we might consider a failure can lead us to. Indeed, true, authentic communication with others begins from such situations, because they represent an open and sincere space in which we look beyond ourselves to meet others. It is in that space - when we don't hide and don't try to push events away - that our best qualities begin to shine.