Just as the lotus rises out of mud, so too are our failures the very fertilizer for our realized beauty.

Nearly four years ago, I put my (successful) business out of business. And I spent the next four years rebuilding. I lost just about everything—and the fact that my wound was largely self-inflicted did not make those lean, stressful times any less lean or stressful. Then, as elephant was reborn from magazine into a moderately successful web site, I had (by far) the worst relationship of my life. I’ve spent most of the ensuing 1.5 years alone, lonely, beaten, stressed, and on some level, depressed.

But through it all I’ve followed a thread: my path is my joy. My vocation is my avocation, as Robert Frost said (I think). My criteria for how I spend my short life on this sweet, terrible planet is this:

1) I do what I’m good at

2) I do what I’m good at that I also love doing

3) I do what I’m good at that I love doing that happens to be of some small benefit to others.

My failure has defined my story, and make me deeper and stronger, unbeatable, even: for now fear of failure is something I’m intimate with.

For it is only in gaining knowledge of and comfort with our fear, that we become fearless.

(and, funny, as you’ll see below)

~ ed.

~

Please do not be cynical.

Amazing Things Will Happen: a review of the Tao of Coco.

Your perceived failure can become a catalyst for profound reinvention.

But then something spectacular happened: fog bound, with no compass and adrift, I started trying things. I did a lot of silly, unconventional, spontaneous and seemingly irrational things. It was the most satisfying and fascinating year of my professional life. To this day, I still don’t understand exactly what happened. But I have never had more fun, been more challenged—and this is important—had more conviction in what I was doing.

How could this be true? Well, it’s simple: there are few things more liberating in life than having your worst fear realized.

It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique. It’s not easy: but if you accept your misfortune and accept it right your perceived failure can become a catalyst for profound reinvention.

In 2000, I told graduates to not be afraid to fail and I still believe that but today I tell you that if you fear it or not disappointment will come. The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity and with clarity comes conviction and true originality.

Whatever you think your dream is now, that will change: and that’s okay.

I pulled the above quotes from this:

~

Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen:

http://vimeo.com/8939365

Long may you run.

http://vimeo.com/8947955