Success - You have to Fail to Reach it.

Many would argue with the title of this article, but it's true nonetheless. We often talk about "change" and how we want it, yet how many times do we fall into the same old "rut" and "routine"? I remember a debate 20ish or so years ago with some of the older youth in my church. The question was "If your goal is to fail and you succeed, did you still fail?". My answer was "If it was your goal was to fail and you met your goal, then you did succeed in your own eyes, because everyone else’s definition of success should not reflect your own." To be honest, I have seen some kids that were so afraid of failure; they were perfectly content to never leave the couch and they continued to live with their parents well into adulthood.

I ran across the following piece written by Portia Nelson called "Autobiography in Five Short Chapters" and found it worthwhile to post, so here it is. May we all reflect, understand and seek the "better street" and become all that we can be by overcoming any adversity or "holes" that we fall into. Here's a toast to all the holes we've fallen into and the new streets we've found because we at least had the fortitude to get off the couch and walk down those streets to begin with. May we stop falling into the same old holes, but find new holes on different streets to fall into and get out of.  May we become better people because of it all.

Chapter 1:
I walk down the street.
There is a hole.
I don't see it.
I fall in.
It isn't my fault.
It takes a very long time to get out.

Chapter 2:
I walk down the same street.
There is still a deep hole.
I pretend not to see it.
I fall in.
I pretend it's still not my fault.
It takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3:
I walk down the same street.
There is still the same deep hole.
I see it.
I fall in anyway.
It's a habit.
I get out quicker this time.

Chapter 4:
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole.
I see it.
I walk around it.
I don't fall in.

Chapter 5:
I walk down a different street!!!