Failure's lessons

For years I have liked the prose/poem titled "The Invitation" by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. It's about being real, and it's just rich with images and meaning. Read the entire poem sometime, and see whether it doesn't give you much upon which to reflect.

Part of the poem addresses failure, something with which each one of us is familiar. Here's what she writes, "I want to know if you can live with failure, yours or mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, 'Yes!'"

I don't know about you, but I've learned far more from my failures than ever I've learned from my achievements and successes. It's not easy to face failure nor to accept that one has failed. But it definitely puts it in perspective when you can ask what lessons your failure might have for you. What can you learn from the experience?

And can we be gracious and forgiving of the failures of others? It helps if we can offer ourselves that gift—then we'll be more likely to be accepting of the failures of others.

And if we can do that, perhaps we truly can "stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, 'Yes!'"