Cocooned in the safety of our protective bubbles, we minimize risk. We think we avoid disappointment, the probability of losing, and getting hurt, but we also limit opportunities for success. The siren call of our comfort zone disguises the actual danger. You are supposed to stumble. The surest path to disaster is succumbing to the irrational fear prompting you to quit. The more we concentrate on comfort, and embrace an illusion of security, the less we pursue losing, and the smaller our world becomes.

People laugh at my audacious goals and inform me I will fail. But I have learned valuable lessons from setbacks. Like the famous Edison quote, each failed attempt exposes what doesn’t work, and pushes me closer to victory. Any personal trainer at the gym will tell you pushing muscles to the point of fatigue encourages each muscle to grow stronger. Practice is controlled failure. Daring to live on the boundary line of your current capabilities, living where failure is almost certain, is painful, but it is the only avenue towards growth.

When you read stories of individuals triumphing against all odds, the core of the story is that winners don’t let defeat stop them. Instead, it makes them more determined to achieve their goal. I have been failing a lot. It’s not stopping me, because each day I gain experience, strength, and conviction that I am inching toward accomplishment. Besides, I love the view from the edge. It is so much better than any view you’ll experience from your comfy couch.

Will you dare to fail today?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer