Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Fear of Failure and a Few Good Quotes

 
This is a re-post of a post (does that make sense?) that I wrote back in 2007 when I was just starting to blog.  Here we are three years later and I'm marginally better in this struggle. The quotes are favorites of mine...I think you'll enjoy them and maybe even relate to them.
Here's a confession. Fear of failure has haunted me a lot during my life. I don't know why. Every time I learn a new skill that I think will be just the thing I want to do the rest of my life, I am stopped in my tracks by "uncertainty".

It's no big deal, really, because I've had/am having a very good life. Great kids. Great husband. Warm home. Good friends. Loving family. It's not keeping me awake at night (that's something else entirely-ha!) and the world isn't going to come to an end because I don't have a niche. But there it is...

Anyway, I've found a treasure trove of quotes that really illustrate that I'm not the only person in the world who feels just a little unfulfilled but lacks the gumption to do something about it. Here are some quotes that I find inspiring, empowering and comforting.

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. (Zig Ziglar)

I will not let past failures haunt me. Even though my life is scarred with mistakes, I refuse to rummage through my trash heap of failures. I will admit them. I will correct them. I will press on. Victoriously. No failure is fatal. It’s OK to stumble . . . I will get up. It’s OK to fail . . . I will rise again. Today I will make a difference. (Max Lucado)

The cautious seldom err. (Confucious)

I -think-I-can, I-think-I-can, I-think-I-can... (The Little Engine That Could)

And my favorite (because it's fun) is:

Even Noah got no salary for the first six months partly on account of the weather and partly because he was learning navigation. (Mark Twain)

Gotta keep navigating!

What do you think?  How has blogging changed your life if at all?  Do you have any favorite inspirational quotes?

Oh, Jack just got up and said, "Happy Birthday".  And I said, "Thanks...I completely forgot!"  Which I did.  We don't make a big deal out of birthdays in our house which suits me just fine...not getting any younger and I certainly don't need to be reminded of that!  But I might just get a birthday dinner out of him.  Will let you know.

The photo is through Creative Commons and courtesy of   Cheon Fong Liew .

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Posted by CherylK at 7:09 AM
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11 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday! We don't make a big deal about them either. That's the way I like it.

    Yes, I believe blogging has changed my life. It's broaden my knowledge of different areas of the country, world, lifestyles and people.

    I luv showing off our little part of the world and its a way for family and friends to keep up with us.

    I guess my quote is "try, try again."

    Have a great day on your Birthday!!!!!!
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  2. Happy Birthday, Cheryl. And many happy returns. Loved your quotes, especially the Little Engine's. My own personal favorite is: Of all the sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: it might have been.

    Blogging has really broadened my outlook, quickened interest in so much, and introduced me to nice people like you. Congrats on your Blogiversary!

    And I apologize for the mess Blogger made earlier. Finally learned Blogger changed its Customize format and, in the process, removed then replaced gadgets and such.

    Enjoy your very special day!!
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  3. Blogging has changed my life in that it has pulled me out of my comfort zone. I've been put in situations at conferences and meet-ups, etc. that I would have avoided like the plague before, but I find that I'm rising to it and even enjoying it.
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  4. I don't have a favorite inspirational quote about blogging, but I have 2 favorite quotes I came up with myself.

    "Death is a sad tragedy that makes us grief, but it also helps us realize the importance of life. (Quote by M. Hassan)

    The best teacher in life is Life itself (Quote by M. Hassan)".

    I really love your photo, its sharp and very well taken!
    ReplyDelete
  5. hi Cheryl, I'm not sure my connection will post this comment but Happy birthday. I only celebrate with flowers, cake and greetings. I don't think any of those are a big deal.
    Have a great day and thanks for all your concern. I'm still in recovery.
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  6. Happy Birthday! Blogging has allowed me to write. Period. Something I'd always wanted to do, but I didn't have the patience for long hand nor want the problems of a typewriter. This is very freeing: write, delete, rewrite, see it in preview, rewrite if necessary, publish. Voila! As far as purpose or a niche goes, I think your purpose is exactly what you're doing; connecting with people in this community of souls, writing and sharing. How fine is that? And, a great contribution that matters. Niches can be confining.
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  7. Well, I'm glad I managed to stop by today (even if I'm late and it's tomorrow in your time zone....maybe.... are you central time? If you are, it's still your birthday!) Happy Birthday.

    I have no inspirational quotes for you. But I do like yours!
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  8. Happy day after your birthday Cheryl, if you don't celebrate your birthday then celebrate the day after, the fact that I'm still breathing is reason enough for me to celebrate any day in my own special way! :-)

    Blogging has changed my life, or maybe it's my outlook on life has changed since I took a look inwards and changed myself. I now view the world in vibrant rich colors and appreciate the beauty I'm surrounded by, no this is not due to blogging... I'm getting to that. I love to take photos, something which I never realized I had a passion for or maybe I didn't realize how much beauty there is in my world. One day I picked up my camera after my niece told me about this project 365, I used to be a starter, start everything and self sabotage, quit just before I'd complete anything and now here I am half way done my second year of posting a photo a day and sharing my life with others. I have found a sense of community here and met some wonderful people who inspire me, yourself included.

    Three years of education and now hopefully off to university in the fall, ya I'm nuts! But I'm following a dream, one which I have always wanted but never allowed myself the opportunity to pursue. I love sharing with others and the sharing parts of my life here is amazing, it's like a photo journal to a degree and the comments are amazing! This in itself keeps me inspired.

    There have been many quotes, readings, listening to others, and tons of learning which has kept me inspired but the one quote which stands out most to me as I sit here tonight and type is one I heard from Earnie Larsen, he's an alcoholic in recovery who has worked in the field of addictions for many years and now is a motivational speaker who I had the pleasure of seeing about 4 years ago, he said:

    "Don't die with your music still in you."

    That has been one of my all time favorites and guess what, I'm not going to die with my music still in me!

    Wow, I really took off on this one... I hope you like reading! :-) Have a wonderful day and I hope you got that dinner!
    ReplyDelete
  9. Happy Birthday!;)
    Love all your quotes.;) We all fear something. Even when we are infinitely happy, there is always a fear, perhaps if only the one of loosing that happiness.
    My favorite quote is printed on my sidebar.
    have a lovely day,
    xoxo
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  10. Hope you have a great birthday dinner! You found some great quotes to share on your blog. I really like the Max Lucado quote.
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  11. That fear of failure reminded me that even last night I had a dream and am sitting for some exam and my mind is totally blank.
    ReplyDelete

I just love reading your comments. It's part of what makes blogging so much fun, don't you think?

Unfortunately, because of a recent spat of spam, for awhile I'll be reviewing comments before publishing them.

Thanks for understanding.

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