iFail

In the weeks that have followed the passing of Steve Jobs there has been a lot of talk about his views on failure. Today's Thursday blog post is was inspired by these articles... This week, Susanna to ask us to write about something we have failed at and the lesson we learned from the experience.

Here are some of my thoughts on failure . . .

One of the first articles I saw about Steve Jobs' outlook on failure was this one from The Huffington Post. It made such a impression on that I posted it on my Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Until that point, I never really knew the extent of Jobs failures - only his successes. What I like most about his philosophy regarding failure was the idea that in order to be successful we all must fail. However, as I thought more and more about this article I began to wonder what if you are someone seems to continuously stumble - aka, fail.

Yesterday, I was texting messaging with Ash regarding failure (it was relevant to our conversation). As the messages flew back and forth (thanks to iOS5's unlimited messaging), Ash cited Thomas Edison's 999 attempts to create a light bulb that didn't work. Edison's famous quote from this experience goes, "I did not fail---I just learn 999 ways on how not to make a light bulb.” The idea is that Edison's triumph should inspire people to continue to persevere when they want to just want to give up.

As I pondered the topic more, I venture intro the contradiction that seems to exists when it comes to the message people receive regarding failure. On one hand we're told it's ok to fail because it's part of being human and we learn from our failures. On the other hand, we (as a society) laugh at and mock others failures by posting them online via such blogs at Fail Blog or Failure Magazine. To further this mockery, readers of these blogs make further fun of what they see by through their comment on it, and in some cases rate the level of "fail." All this leads me to ask, how much do we really practice what we preach? Or, do we just want to put on a good face in public just for the sake of looking good to others, however show our true colors when we hide behind a computer screen? I don't know the answers, but it's just something to consider.

Failure can be embarrassing or a sensitive topic depending on who you are talking too. Especially when a failure is regarding something incredibly personal or when a person feels like all they do is fail.

In the end, I think the important thing to constantly remind ourselves is that if we didn't fail, we wouldn't know that when we have succeeded; however, I can understand why it's hard to remember when you are in the thick of things.

Now that I've talked about failure, please see what my fellow bloggers have to say about the topic:


• Mom of Many (Susanna)

• Momarock (Sara)

• Merryland Girl (Melissa)

Until later . . .