the consequences of failure

You fail only if you stop.
Ray Bradbury

You made a mess. You had something in mind, you tried something new, and it didn’t work out the way you planned. It might have gone slightly off track or it might be a full head-on collision of a derailment. 

There are failures in life that can bring severe and devastating consequences but when we are talking about making art, taking chances, making running leaps of faith, it is almost ALWAYS better to try than to let fear stop you from making an effort.

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Athletes like Michael Jordan miss far more shots than they land – but because they reach and risk and take those shots – at times they succeed.

They fail, and they alone, who have not striven.
Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Fear keeps us from trying. We let an endless stream of excuses run through our heads and paralyze us into inaction. We forget that creating is a process. Every process has bits that are frustrating, ugly, difficult. Don’t let that stop you.

Stop and think for a minute of what the actual consequences are of making a piece of art you think is ugly, imperfect, or that does not live up to the ideal you had in your mind?

What if instead of giving up to turned around and took a good hard look at what you did? What if you analyzed what happened and figured out a new way to proceed. What if you learned something vital and necessary that you didn’t know you needed to know – because something went awry?

Write down the consequences of failure.
Write down the consequences of not trying.