Failure

I woke up this morning around 4:30, put on my favorite shirt: "I eat marathons for breakfast", ate a Blueberry Clif Bar, and drove to a trail head at Lake Zorinsky. The plan was to run 22 miles at about seven minutes per mile. I could tell after about 4 or 5 miles that I was going to fail this morning. My mind said "yes" but my body was saying "no". After 10 miles I decided that I would slow it down a bit and only do 15 miles. I averaged about 7:20 per mile for 15 miles.

I failed this morning. Failure is a part of life. Failure isn't a bad thing unless you just don't try or just don't care. The biggest failure in life is the failure to care enough to try. All great people are great because they failed. But they didn't let their failures define them. They risked failing, embraced failure, and learned from their failures.

Here's the deal. Failure isn't the opposite of success. Failure is better thought of as a precursor to success.