A Toast to Our Failures

This week has been a rollercoaster of emotions. I recently released an essay for Thought Catalog about what my life would have been like if I got everything I thought I wanted (read article here). If my life was a straight line, and everything was handed to me on a silver platter, I would have never grown. I would have stayed exactly where I was mentally but in a 30-year-old body.

Life never happens the way we want, does it? When we’re in the storm, it can feel unbearable, but once we’re out, we are left with scars as a reminder of how far we’ve come. I see all of my “failures” and “mistakes” as a blessing to move me forward to the life I have now. A life of choosing myself. A life of curiosity. A life of following the fire that burns my soul.

We are constantly evolving and growing and writing our stories. The scars of our past become folklore of how we rised up after a fall. The scars of our past become silver linings for someone else’s current struggles. We must never be ashamed of the dark storms we’ve endured when we didn’t know what we didn’t know.

Your life is not linear because your story was meant to be remembered.

We tend to shame our failures, but I’m proud of mine. I used to fear failure until I got knocked down over and over again. Eventually, I realized my greatest strength was from getting back up everytime. The multiple disruptions on my path forced me to find stability within myself so I had the confidence to leave my 7-year career to pursue my passion for writing and mental health advocacy.

All the ways I failed became part of the story to make me who I am today. An advocate. A storyteller. A survivor.

Failure is proof life happens for you, not to you.

Thank your failures today and look forward to your future ones because your story is not over yet.

Sincerely,

Mary

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