The Incredible Value of Failure

by George R. Marshall

Published on this site: February 10th, 2004

My associate and webmaster, Anthony Goulding of Manchester, England recently sent me the URL for his website promoting a very successful online income opportunity and asked me what I thought of the new website at:
http://www.learn-to-earn.org.uk .

I responded by writing:

Dear Tony: Looks really good, a very colorful and persuasive message. Too bad it didn't work for me but there's a blessing here. It made me go on a hunt for what did work for me and lo' and behold look at what we are doing together, Helen, you, and I. It just shows you the incredible value of failure.

All the best, George

Very often our relationship to failure is very neurotic and fearful. We hope to be successful and are fearful that we will not be successful. We have an image of success to which we aspire: wealth of a certain level or at least comfort, a beautiful partner, a lovely home, or spiritual progress, and the list goes on and on, different for each of us. But the common thread are hope and fear..

In the Buddhist teachings introduced to the west by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, he referred to hope and fear as the robber barons of life-two sides of the same coin. Does that mean that we should give up all our aspirations, our dreams, our motivation to accomplish. No, of course not--it means giving up our grasping, and our extreme feelings of hope and fear.

Further, there is no way for us to tell whether a given event which at the time we might experience as a great failure is not the seed for a great accomplishment or positive turning point in our life.

I recall giving up many years ago, a tenured position at a university and being warned by friends and associates that I had really lost my mind and I was making a very big mistake. But it turned out to be one of the best things I have ever done; a blessing in my life and the lives of my children and friends.

So what is the lesson here. Well, we are not always in control of our life and destiny. What seems to be important is our attitude and state of mind.

I recall the title of a poem by the American poet, Theodore Roethke, The Right Things Happen to the Happy Man. Most often, I think we believe in the opposite: if the right things happened, I would be happy. I feel Roethke is correct and that deep down we know he is correct. Our state of mind comes first; everything flows from that. No matter what happens, feel joy, be uplifted, be kind, and let that be the ground of our life.

Turning the Mind into an Ally, Riverhead Books, 2003, 233 pages, by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is highly relevant.

If you are interested in creating an income from your computer at home and your connection to the Internet then contact The Creating Income Enterprise: Your Path to Wealth & Power with Dr. George at [email protected] or call 902-351-2137.