Risky Business...and NOT the Tom Cruise kind

I think Thomas Edison was a really cool guy. Aside from the fact that he invented the light bulb and a bunch of other wonderful things, he had the right idea about how to overcome a problem, and I think of him often when I am working on projects and dealing with challenging situations.

Here are a few awesome tidbits worth pondering:
"...there are no rules here-- we're trying to accomplish something."
"Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration."
"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk."
"Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless."
"There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labour of thinking."
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."


But here are three more that lead me where I want to go today:
"Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work."
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. "
"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. "

True, true, true!!!!!!!! And I am also struck by something that a former First Lady once said:

"You must accept that you might fail; then, if you do your best and still don't win, at least you can be satisfied that you've tried. If you don't accept failure as a possibility, you don't set high goals, you don't branch out, you don't try – you don't take the risk."
— Rosalynn Carter: Former First Lady and authoress

I was pondering all of this, along with the oft heard proverb that "Failure breed success," and I don't think it's necessarily true in 100% of cases, but I do think it's generally spot on. I agree with what Mrs. Carter says. If we are going to stretch ourselves and grow in any way, we have to be willing to take risks. We have to do it every day without exception.

If you think about it, it's true in ways we probably never even recognize. For example, if you take a certain route to school, you are taking a risk that it will help you get there on time or more happily (perhaps you like crepe myrtles, and the less traveled path is full of them...); maybe you bought that lush fern thinking that it would improve the ambience of your room; it could be that you are trying a new item on the menu at your favorite restaurant; supposing you bought a $1 lottery ticket; you might have worked for several years to save and buy your first car; on a personal level, you might have made a new friend; on the other hand, you could have decided to trust someone again--someone who once hurt, let down, or betrayed you in some way. Each time we invest our time, money, or selves, we are taking a risk. We might be late, the fern might die or cause allergies, we might hate the split pea soup, we might not win the 300 million dollar jackpot, the car we sweated for so ardently might turn out to be a lemon, the friend (old or new) may disappoint us...hmmmm. What logical conclusion might we make?

Knowing that whatever you decide could, in essence, turn out to be a flop, what's the point in trying anything, right? I think that's the cynical answer here and definitely not one I would recommend. Bottom line: risks are worth it. You have to take risks to grow. In this class (and all of your others, by the way), you are going to invest a significant amount of your time this coming year. If you are investing your time, you are therefore risking a possible negative outcome; however, you have a great deal (the BIGGEST) of input as to whether that risk will turn out poorly or positively. Your effort in the risk, even if things don't turn out exactly as you expect, will lead you to growth and potentially fabulous results. You may not have any idea as to the significance of the risk until much, much later in life, and it may not be obvious to you at the time. It may only be through reflection that you discover how much the risk really meant and how valuable a "failure" really happened to be.

You might want to (and I really hope that you do and that you comment on it here) check out this article from Business Week entitled "How Failure Breeds Success." Here's the link: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_28/b3992001.htm My favorite quote from it was this one: "'It's only a failure if we fail to get the learning,' says Cook."

No matter what happens, get out there and make the attempt. Something is going to come of your effort, and that something may lead you in a totally unanticipated but serendipitous direction. Let's take some risks together and see what happens to your skills in reading, interpreting, grammar, composition, speaking, presenting, and viewing this year, shall we? :-)

Hope you're finished with your summer reading, by the way. How's that workin' out for ya? If you need help, let me know. I'm back in town for the rest of the summer and at your disposal!