Failure to Failure

"Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." ~ Winston Churchill.

There are a million quotes on success and failure. Pretty much all of them refer to how people can't have success without failure, that failure is part of learning and growing. Then, of course, less positive quotes exist, quotes like from the latest season opener of "House, M.D." when House says to his psychiatrist, "Successes only last until someone screws them up. Failures last forever." That's harsh.

I love the Churchill quote. It makes so much sense when things are going well for in people's lives. However, I understand the quote House makes because people can feel that way when they're experiencing tough times.

I think one can argue some validity for either quote...IF a person chooses to accept that kind of attitude. It's really about the attitude and outlook someone adopts.

Since people have choices on what path they will take, why not choose to take the positive one? House's psychiatrist replied to him, "You acknowledge failure and then you move past it."

That's key, too. The doctor didn't say to ignore failure. He said to acknowledge it, think about it, learn from it...and then let it go. Human beings will always make mistakes. That's the nature of being human. The point is to not make the same mistakes, but to grow (so we can make different kinds of mistakes...that's OK...that's a part of life long learning). In that way, people can achieve success.