Oscar Wilde said, �Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.� I believe this to be true. We make mistakes, we learn from them, and that�s where we get our experiences. Where would we be if we never made any mistakes at all? I don�t think we would have a chance to grow as human beings if we were infallible. Mistakes teach us compassion, understanding, humility and they bring us back down to earth. John Wooden said, �It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.� I personally have learned so much from trying, failing and trying again. Now I don�t recommend slipping, of course, but if you do, I hope you find the strength within yourself to try again. As a society, we are so afraid to fail. Why is that? Why do people give up when out of failure comes the most success? Thomas Edison said, �Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.� If you fall down, do you lay there on the ground? Of course not!
Right now, it�s February. We all know what happens at the gyms in February� membership rates fall. We�ve seen that same thing happen here� not nearly as many posts as we had at the beginning of the year. We�ve lost several quitters and this really saddens me. Many have gone back to a lifetime of addiction. Some will try again� many may not. This is such a shame. If we try, fail and never try again, what have we gained? Nothing. James Havelock Ellis said, �It is on our failures that we base a new and different and better success.� Success is what we view it to be. Russell Lowell said, �Mishaps are like knives that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle.� We can use our mistakes as tools, or we can bleed to death because of them. It�s a choice.
So what do you do if you slip? Albert Einstein said, �Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.� If you slip, it�s necessary to find out why and figure out a way to not do that again. Learn from your mistakes. Make a plan for the future. Then, forgive yourself and move on. That last one�s the hardest for me, but it�s necessary in order to move forward. �It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try an