Failure Is Not Shame

Failure Is Not Shame

When I was a small boy, I had to learn to walk.  I fell down a few times.  There was no shame in that. Falling down is a part of learning to walk.

When I really got into singing in high school and college, I would, on occasion, sing a few flat notes.  I probably shamed myself.  I beat myself up for my flaws as a singer.  As I look back on that time, I have to put things into perspective.  As in learning to walk, learning to sing is a process.  My vocal chords weren’t developed yet, nor was my musical ear trained to discern pitch perception.  Those are learned traits.  They are not shaming moments. 

In the tenth grade, I took mechanical drawing.  I was lousy at it.  I believe I made a D minus.  My teacher, Mr. Casteel, had the good sense to write on my report card something like … “Mike really tries hard to do a good job in my class.  He just doesn’t have the insight, a basic skill, for mechanical drawing.”

And yet, I’m a darn good drummer, singing, conductor, writer, speaker, manager, banker, and a few other skills and talents I’ve accumulated along the way.

Oh my, I’ve had some hard learning curves, and that is what they were – LEARNING curves.  Not shame closets, not failure marks – learning curves.

I’ve written on this topic a dozen times, and will continue to address this subject.

Failure is the gateway to success, to learning and improving.

FAILURE IS NOT FINAL!

This is what is

on my mind today.

It's All About People Blogsite

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

The Bull's Eye Can Be Hit

The Bull’s Eye Can Be Hit

People who hit the bull’s eye on the first try are lucky.  There is no skill in that.  They got lucky.

So, what’s your bull’s eye?  Consider this … that takes some figuring, some mulling and some trying and aiming and missing.  I didn’t settle on being a writer until I was in my late fifties/early sixties.  I thought about it, I dreamed of it, but I never got serious about writing until later in life.

And when I landed on writing, I knew I had found my niche.  Oh, I dabbled along the way.  I wrote some stuff –small stuff.  And I kept dabbling.  I kept writing, yet never dared called myself a ‘writer’. 

I began enjoying the process more.  I tried my hand on a more consistent basis.  I expanded my horizons and actually wrote a poem or two along the way.  Finally, I developed a sense of direction for my life – my life purpose.  It’s this – Offering Hope, Ecouragement, Inspiration, one word at a time.

People started reading, and following, and commenting.  I was encouraged, and so it continued.  I kept throwing darts at the board.  I had miss-spelled words, wrong verb tenses, and sometimes silly ideas, but the ideas flowed and I captured them.

Got a bull’s eye?  No matter what it is, you can learn to hit it.  Notice I said “Learn”!

Keep aiming.  Keep throwing.  Ignore the critics, and sooner or later you just might figure out how to hit the eye of the bull. 

And that’s no bull!

This is what is

on my mind today.

It's All About People Blogsite

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Life without Comparision

Life without Comparison

No one can do life exactly as I can do life.  It has taken me a long time to accept this as fact. 

In my earlier years, I was consumed with comparing my life with my peers, and I always seemed to come up short.  I never dressed as well, as fashionable as they, I wasn’t as talented as they, I wasn’t as popular as they. 

What a conundrum.  And then, at some point, I began to see and accept my own worth and value.  I began to notice I have opinions too.  I have my skill set and it is slightly or largely different from my peers, yet it works too.  People actually would come and listen to my musical productions, hear me sing solos, and now they read my stuff and listen to my podcasts.

Wow!  I am accepted for who I am. 

Finding acceptance inside our own skin is a grand day indeed.  What a pursuit. 

What a find!

This is what is on

my mind today.

P Michael Biggs

It's All About People Blog Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement

Inspiration

A Word about Vision

A Word about Vision

(This story came from Bits and Pieces (December 2016).  The author is unknown and this is an abridged version, in my own words.)

A railroad crew was hard at work making repairs to a section of track.  A train rolled up on the track nearby and men in suits began disembarking.  A tall man in a blue suit noticed the crew and approached the men. 

He spoke, “Ted, is that you?”

“Yes, it is” Ted responded.  “It’s good to see you, Dale.”

After a brief chat the men parted.  They shook hands and promised to do a better job of keeping in touch.

After the suited man left, a co-worker asked Ted, “Was that Dale, the head of the railroad?”

“It surely was” replied Ted.  “One of my good friends.  You see, we started out on this job on the same day.”

“So, how is it you’re here laying track and he’s now president of this company?”

“It’s simple” Ted replied.  “I had a vision of working for the railroad.  Dale had a vision of running the railroad.”

The end.

Except …

There’s a lesson in there somewhere, isn’t there?

I write, because I want to touch the world … THE WORLD, with my words.  I don’t just want Carolyn, my siblings, and my step-kids and a few friends to read what I generate. 

My vision?  I want to write the blog heard round the world.

What is your vision?

This is what is on

my mind today.

P Michael Biggs

It's All About People Blog Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement

Inspiration