“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” -Albert Einstein

Even Albert Einstein made mistakes. Why? Because he dared big. He didn’t get discouraged the first time things didn’t work out for him. It took him years to develop the theory of relativity and E=mc^2 and his other many celebrated accomplishments in his lifetime.

But he didn’t see the failures and setbacks and roadblocks as a reason to give up. Instead, he pushed forward. He thought about the problem differently. Because he did, he found the solution.

Failure is inherent to all new endeavors. Expect to fail. Expect to fall down, but don’t stay there. You never truly “fail” until you give up.

Don’t give up! Don’t give in! Keep going!

You can do it!

The only way to grow is to keep finding something new to try, something new to stretch yourself in. Don’t settle for how your life is at the moment, there is always more to learn, to understand, and to grow in.

But what if you failed big. Your relationship failed. Your career endeavor failed. You had some other type of failure and now you are afraid. Now, you feel like you can’t go through a failure like that again. It is too much. It is too painful. Think about what the result of that failure was. Maybe humiliation. Probably regret. Some serious soul-searching and asking yourself, those around you, God… why. Why didn’t it work out? Why couldn’t I do it? Why did this happen?

Some questions don’t have answers. Some things don’t work out. Period. There are somethings that happen that are beyond our control. Grieve the loss. Reflect. Look inside at what needs to change in you. Don’t stay there though. Don’t let bitterness take root. Forgive others if someone hurt you. Forgive yourself for your failure.

Then put one foot in front of the other. Don’t hide in bed. Don’t turn your phone off. Don’t despair that your life is over.

Your life is not over. Each day there is a chance to start again. Each day there is a chance to start something new. Yes, more mistakes and failures are likely to come. That is a result of doing something new, as Einstein surmised. But it is worth it.

Start something new today.

– Jason