“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.”
Oscar Wilde had it right, we think. Mistakes are supposed to be learning opportunities. We don’t serve ourselves (or our children) well, if we shy from the chance to make mistakes, and the chance to shine when we succeed where others told us that we would not.
This is our goal: to teach our kids that failure isn’t shameful. It doesn’t mean you’re defeated, and doesn’t equal a weakness in character. In fact, failure may be the very source of character. We’re not suggesting that anyone should ignore failure. We encourage you to change the way you talk about it and react to it.
If failure means you need to pull yourself back up, and try, try again—then failure loses its negative power. It becomes something positive and more powerful. Think about it: who do you think learns more, a student who fails the quiz and goes home to study, study, study and returns to get a C on the Test? Or the student who got an A on the quiz and an A on the test with no effort at all? Success is that much sweeter, when you know you worked your ass off to get it.
Too many people in the world tell kids
they can’t do things, and shouldn’t try. To them, we say: “Butt out, and give the kid a shot!” Let them try, and see what happens. They may surprise you.
The strength and character needed to overcome obstacles and defeats in life comes from making mistakes, and bouncing back. We encourage our kids to take on challenges and see what happens. Explore. Try it. See what happens. Then take the knowledge you gained into your next attempt.
“I pick myself, I dust myself off, and start all over again.”