Failure

'It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well have not lived at all- in which case you fail by default.' JK RowlingOh, how we all hate to fail, myself included, but failure is powerful medicine. I love the quote above, in part, because it was stated by someone who spoke it because she lived it. (Best selling author JK Rowling was shunned by many publishing houses before she went on to become one of the most successful writers in history.)Failure is painful when it happens and the litany of emotions that follow are equally unpleasant; anger, shame, exasperation... the list goes on and on. Even so, failure is a teacher and it is always, always part of a greater process. Sometimes we fail at one thing so that we are forced to try another. Something happens when we fail; it is like some invisible alchemy occurs within us and that alchemy either makes us harder or softer. One is not better than the other and if we are wise, we will let the universe meld us in the direction that is for our highest good. Failure is rarely a random event; it is part of a larger process that breaks what needs to be broken, so that new growth can replace the old.  I agree whole heartedly with JK Rowling; that the only real failure is to walk through this world so cautiously that we never fail at all.