Welly-Bells taught me a lesson this week.
She was trying her best to make a nice card for a friend. I was sounding out a word for her. I told her the next sound was i, and she proceeded to write an A. I said, "Oh honey. It's supposed to be an I." She smiled and responded, "That's okay. I'll make it fancy." Her A-turned-I was fancy, indeed. Almost too fancy to recognize at all.
If only we were a bit more willing to allow ourselves to fail once in a while. To make a leap without worrying about where we might land.
We would be more creative, wouldn't we? We'd try new things. We'd create for the purpose of creating and not dwell on the imperfections in the outcome.
Maybe her "fancy letter" wouldn't fit in the box of what is "right", but is that what matters? Once in a while, we might even come up with something better than "right".
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." –Theodore Roosevelt
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
~ Sir Winston Churchill
It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation--Herman Melville
"I have not failed; I’ve found 10,000 ways that won’t work." – Thomas Edison
She was trying her best to make a nice card for a friend. I was sounding out a word for her. I told her the next sound was i, and she proceeded to write an A. I said, "Oh honey. It's supposed to be an I." She smiled and responded, "That's okay. I'll make it fancy." Her A-turned-I was fancy, indeed. Almost too fancy to recognize at all.
If only we were a bit more willing to allow ourselves to fail once in a while. To make a leap without worrying about where we might land.
We would be more creative, wouldn't we? We'd try new things. We'd create for the purpose of creating and not dwell on the imperfections in the outcome.
Maybe her "fancy letter" wouldn't fit in the box of what is "right", but is that what matters? Once in a while, we might even come up with something better than "right".
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." –Theodore Roosevelt
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
~ Sir Winston Churchill
It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation--Herman Melville
"I have not failed; I’ve found 10,000 ways that won’t work." – Thomas Edison
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