“Failure does not exist. Failure is simply someone else’s opinion of how a certain act should have been completed. Once you believe that no act must be performed in any specific other-directed way, then failing becomes impossible.”
Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

“There are no failures– just experiences and your reactions to them.”
Tom Krause

Inspired by No Meat Athlete, here are almost all of the times I failed that have helped me become such an ongoing success (no, really!)…

• I failed to get into any of my top choice universities. I got rejected from 8 different schools. 2 of the 3 that did accept me were schools you couldn’t have paid me to go to. (And yet I went to one of them and look how I’ve grown. :P)

• I failed the first three times I tried to take calculus for a general education requirement. I even dropped it in high school, where dropping a class meant an F (probably leading to many of my many school rejections above).
• I failed the first three times I tried to stop eating meat.
• I failed countless times in three years trying to eat mindfully and healthily. I failed countless times to let go of addiction, depression, suicidal thoughts, self-mutilation, eating disorders, and self-hatred. But eventually… I succeeded :)
• My doubles partner and I were the bottom rung of the ladder in tennis in high school. (That was literally how the rankings worked: rungs of a ladder.) We never, ever won a game. Ever!
• I won last place in every single one of my track races in high school.
• I failed many, many times in pursuit of a successful loving relationship. I was also rejected several times in other situations.
• I failed to complete Project 365 this year.
• I failed to muster up the courage, self-confidence, and positive body image to attend my school’s Undie Run (running in your underwear from library to library during finals week) six times. (But not next time!)
• I failed to floss every day for basically my entire life… but I’m going to start today, for sure!
• I failed to stop peeling my lips (my most on-going & worst habit) for years. I’m going to stop, though, soon now!
• I failed to love myself for over 18 years. ;)

I’m sure there are others, but I’ve failed to remember them right now :D

What are the failures that have made YOU into the success you are today?

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1. you have to be strong enough to be weak