Success & authentic effort

Failure is never the outcome of authentic effort.  Even if things go terribly awry & the objective is miserably missed, something always comes from making a genuine try, if only the knowledge you gave it your best.  Far from a bittersweet outcome, knowing you gave something your all, that you entered the arena & faced whatever opportunity for action had presented itself, hadn't held back - there is great power in knowing you've done all in pursuit of a worthwhile goal, even if you were knocked splat. 

Og Mandino talks about setting aside assumptions of experiencing failure, that "now I am prepared for wisdom and principles which will guide me out of the shadows into the sunlight of wealth, position & happiness."

Hmmmm...  Don't we act from principles, rather than toward them, as Og (Augustine!) describes? 

Never thought much before about how our actions develop reinforce establish our principles - and, from them, our values - rather than being rooted in them.  Layering.  I like layering. And texture & richness of color.  There is plenty of all that in the thought of our actions not just expressing our principles but nurturing them to fullness of being.

We cannot put out an authentic effort & end up with failure.  Okay, we didn't meet our objective.  What DID we gain? 

Over the past four days, the Democrats named Hillary Rodham Clinton to be its presidential candidate & she accepted.  Eight years ago, she suffered an abysmal loss when Barack Obama received the nod she'd expected.  After she went SPLAT! in the most public arena imaginable, she didn't hightail it out of there;  she stayed, called on her supporters to set aside their rancor & support the party's nominee, she campaigned for him, then served as his Secretary of State. 

Who knows her why - it doesn't matter.  What she did does.  She was present & willing to do what she could, even if it meant having to be - over & over & over - on the other side of the desk where she fought to sit. 



The past eight years have served HRC well in ways she could never have imagined.  In 2008,  only a small circle of friends, family, colleagues & Texans knew BRENE BROWN.  In 2016, countless millions - men & women - have learned about daring greatly & rising strong from her books & YouTube & TED Talks. 

Brene helps us put HRC in a different context then was remotely possible in 2008 - we can now recognize a veteran of the arena when we see her.

For her part, Hillary chose to learn humility rather than stock her fridge with ice cream & nurse her wounds.  I cannot imagine how she had to humble herself every time she entered the White House - and it wasn't HER house - every time she called her former political foe "Mr. President," every time she sat on the other side of the Oval Office desk. 

Hillary CHOSE to experience her loss at the polls as something other than failure.  As Og urges us to do, she rejected sensing it as failure & prepared herself, prepared herself for a second run through being of active service, instead of harboring a grudge against the man who dashed her dreams, against the nation that turned to him - the most unlikely candidate imaginable - rather than embracing her. 

"Failure no longer will be my payment for struggle...  In the past, I accepted it as I accepted pain.  Now I reject it & I am prepared for wisdom & principles which will guide me out of the shadows into the sunlight of wealth, position, and happiness far beyond my most extravagant dreams until even the golden apples in the Garden of Hesperides will seem no more than my just reward."

Together, Og & Hillary (someone I've ALWAYS loathed but have come to realize deserves at least my respect for her heart & public service) are pointing me to a better path.  What I know in 2016 more clearly than ever before is that EVERY well-considered action, toward any worthy goal - however seemingly inconsequential or downright frivolous it might be - is imbued with success. 


I did not set out to write a blog post that includes Hillary Clinton.  That sure surprised me!  I was doing my first daily reading of Og's The World's Greatest Salesman when my brain hit PAUSE reading "Failure now longer will be my payment for struggle."  It was impossible to read what he wrote & not think about Hillary.  I am not a fan, but NO ONE in my experience more fully embodies finding success in even the most abject loss.  It was impossible to not think of her brushing herself off & staying in the public arena more determined, more capable, more resilient than before.

Never ever did I expect to say that I hope to be inspired by a woman I held in contempt for decades.  But it can't be avoided because Hillary deserves it - and so do I.  Here's to moving my own ball forward to brighter bigger better, recognizing that authentic effort always yields success!