People say ridiculous things. I had the radio on as I was driving to work today and heard a candidate say "You should vote for me because I've never failed at anything I've done..."
What a remarkable (if somewhat delusional) statement. I think it speaks volumes as to his self awareness. I don't think I could vote for someone who had never failed. They wouldn't know what it was like for the rest of us!
Failure is never fun, but as John Maxwell wrote, there's something to be said for "failing forward". I was able to attend EXPO 2005 in Japan last summer and visited the American Pavillion. It was dedicated to Benjiman Franklin. Benjiman Franklin couldn't say he had never failed, because he failed a lot! Like Abraham Lincoln, his failures far outnumbered his successes, but they are both celebrated as individuals who shaped their world significantly.
"It's better to have tried and failed than to never have tried at all." If failure is something that you're unfamiliar with, maybe your life has become too comfortable and predictable.
Failure gives us the opportunity to learn and grow if we're willing to admit that we've failed and able to learn from our mistakes. Failing to learn from our mistakes is the biggest failure of all.
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