How to Embrace Failure

Most of my life I’ve wasted exorbitant amounts of energy trying to overcome my failures and manage my brokenness. I have fled from my failures, tried to hide my mistakes and put on a fake smile to mask my pain and regrets. In the book The Furious Longing of God, Brennan Manning provides keen insight into how God’s mercy is shown by Him not allowing us to fully see the depth of our brokenness, as we wouldn’t be able to handle it. The more of life’s battles I endure, the more it has become apparent that success has nothing to do with overcoming failures. God has called us to embrace our failures.

Failure is inevitable. If you haven’t experienced a multitude of failures in your life, it’s probably a result from an even more significant quandary of playing the game of life too safe, not taking chances, not putting your heart and soul into your passions in life, or you’re in denial. Chances are you have experienced failure and then felt shame or embarrassment about your failure. Possibly, you went into problem-solving mode to overcome and/or manage your failure so you could be proud of the fact that you are self-sufficient and overcame your weaknesses. Does this ring familiar?

C.S. Lewis said it in best in his best-selling book Mere Christianity that the scariest person is the one who thinks nothing is wrong with them. Trying to be in control, managing our mistakes and acting as if we are never wrong creates a façade and turns us into a pious, judging people which is not how God called us to live. Embracing our failures is admitting we’ve failed, committing to changing and being extraordinarily cognizant and intentional to not make the same mistake twice. Once we embrace our failures we will find grace, redemption, hope and love. Through grace, we can embrace our failures and grow.

Here are five ways embracing failure can work for you, according to Jeremy Bloom’s article This Is What It Means to Embrace Failure on Entrepreneur.com.

1. We learn some of our best lessons through failure.
2. Failure inspires us. If we look at it properly and don’t allow it to define us, failure can be a great source of motivation.
3. Failure teaches us humility. We feel humble after losing and recognize that we are indeed human.
4. Embracing failure allows us to take more risks. Once we come to terms with having failed and survived, we can take greater risks.
5. Failure makes success taste even better. We have a better appreciation of success having failed a few times on the way up the ladder.