Failure, Success, and Second Chances

“Would you like me to give you a formula for success?
It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure.”
—Thomas J. Watson

The afternoon sun scorches our front porch, our favorite place to sit at the end of the day. So a few years ago my husband and I bought a beautiful weeping tree for the corner to cast some shade when we need it most.

This spring was ruthless, though. Just as the budding leaves sprouted, it snowed. Crisping and killing those delicate little sprouts… stopping growth in its tracks. I wasn’t sure how the new tree would respond… would we get our coveted shade this summer?

Just yesterday as I curled up on the corner of the porch to make a phone call, I looked up and saw that behind the dead little leaves, that hadn’t even reached full-size, were tiny green buds. 

Even Mother Nature gives second chances.

How did that tree know to start all over again?

It wasn’t phased by failure. It wasn’t phased by external circumstances. It didn’t give up and die.

It stayed rooted. It stood tall. It waited. And it started all over again.

It is just as beautiful as it was before. It is stronger than before. It is still growing. Despite “failure.”

I’ve been struggling, lately, around the concept of failure. Intellectually I know failure isn’t bad. That it’s necessary for growth and development and learning. That it is not exclusive of success—that it comes with, or even breeds success. I know that failure actually means absolutely nothing at all. That the only meaning it has is the meaning it’s given.

Yet, when something I create doesn’t manifest into the outcome I expect, I can’t help but feel as though I’ve failed. Have I failed to prepare, failed to understand, failed to study, failed to communicate, failed to execute, failed to act? (My inner critic is such a bitch sometimes.)

But I also have an inner knowing—an inner wisdom, not unlike the tree, that knows that external circumstances don’t define me. That I didn’t fail at all. That I can choose to remain rooted. Stand tall. Be patient. And do it all over again.

I can give myself a second chance. And a third. As many as it takes to just keep growing. And so can you.