dancingthroughchaos

‘Let your fear of regret be stronger than your fear of failure.’ – Ruth Soukup (American author)

I’ve been pondering this week on the difference between failure and regret.  

The more I’ve thought about it, the more I realise that the chasm between the two is vast. I think the reason for that is quite simple. 

Failure can hit us hard, knock us sideways or even lay us out irrevocably but we have the power and autonomy to choose how we react to it.  The wise person, instinct and life tell us, is the one who once knocked down, gets up, dusts themselves off, reflects on the experience and, armed with a little more understanding and wisdom, tries again.

Regret is the devastating realisation that things we could have done, places we might have gone, relationships we could have pursued or endeavours we could have initiated are no longer even possible.  It may be that ill health, age, geography, time or economics have a hand to play in such scenarios.

Failure is the price we pay for feeling our way forward in life; trying new things; setting out on a journey, project or relationship. It shows that we have engaged with life, tried our best within the confines and context of what we may have known at the time.  Failures are the scars we pick up on the way; testament to our desires to attempt something, however great or small.  In that, there is much to admire.

Success is all the sweeter for the stumbles that got us there.  It speaks of endurance, perseverance, determination and focus rather than mere, arbitrary luck.

No-one wants to die with regrets.  Failure is recoverable.  We need not wallow in it’s depths, listening to the accompanying lies that seek to tell us that failure equates to a lack of value, an inherent and irrecoverable deficiency of which we are a victim.  Disappointment may be the springboard to re-engaging and pressing on.

Let’s not allow life to pass us by or failure to hold us captive, regardless of what else is happening in the world.  In uncertain times there are still things that remain absolutely certain. 

I am convinced that one of those is the steadfast love of God which knows no boundaries or impediments.  That kind of immeasurable, unconditional love can be the motivation that causes us to come back from the worst of failures.

As we celebrate Easter and remember the spectacular failure of Peter – the disciple who denied he knew Jesus not once, but three times – it’s also worth remembering that he was restored, forgiven and embraced by the risen Jesus whose love conquered sin and death.

[Images: Thanks to Johnny Cohen Unsplash and Pixabay]