“Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” – Arianna Huffington

It’s very rare to find someone who masters a skill with only one attempt. In fact, the attempts that we remember are usually the ones where we seemed to fail the greatest. While I haven’t had any huge failures to report as of late, I do have some pretty spectacular ones from the past and they have all helped me to find success in new ways.

One particular failure that came to mind was when I was first given the chore of mowing our lawn. I was 9 years old and my parents got a brand new Snapper riding mower. My dad showed me how to start the engine and the blades, turn the steering handles, and proudly set me off to mow down our unruly front yard. The one lesson that didn’t sink in was how to stop. On my first pass, I ran that mower right up the woven wire fence in our side yard. Fortunately, I was not injured, and the mower was okay (I think it gave up when I bailed from the seat.)

My dad came running and asked what the heck I was doing.

“Mowing the yard,” I screeched back through adrenaline and embarrassment. He pulled the mower off the fence, turned it around, and told me to get back on. We then practiced how to start and stop the machine before I was let loose on the lawn again.

I can’t say I never had another incident with a mower, but I can say that I became much more aware of what I did and did NOT know about a piece of equipment before I accepted the job of working with it. Now I know exactly what questions to ask before Dad or Hubby put me to work with a new tractor, truck, mower, rake, or baler. I know that to be successful with those implements, I have to possess working knowledge of they start and stop. It makes for a much more productive day on the farm.

“Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” – Arianna Huffington

If you find yourself driving the proverbial lawn mower up a fence, I encourage you to remember two things:

1. Get out while you can.

2. When things are back in place, get on the mower and drive with the knowledge gained from your mishap.

When Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post, stated, “Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success,” she was reaching out to everyone who ever let failure stop them from finding success. She understands that there are lawn-mower-driving kids out there who aren’t sure how to stop, moms and dads who are struggling with balance between home and work, adults who are drowning in debt and not sure how to get their heads above water. What Huffington reminds us is that our screwups are not what stop us. It’s our inability to learn from those mistakes that keeps success away.

“Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” – Arianna Huffington

So, no matter what you flub up, it’s all part of the process for finding your way to prosperity and achievement. Use those imperfect attempts to adjust your methods and maximize your ability to reach your goals. Failure and success are definitely not opposites. They can’t be. Failure is an important part of success.

By: Melanie A. Peters

P.S. There are plenty more mistakes from my past to inspire future posts, but if you have a great mishap and lesson learned, be sure to share in the comments below. That way we can learn from each other’s mistakes.