Success and Failure

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it's the courage to continue that counts." Winston Churchill Original Art by Toni Imsen — “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it’s the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill
Original Art and Photography by Toni Imsen

Today’s post is written by our Brave Artist Toni Imsen

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Success and Failure, two sides of a stream

We believe one is death, and the other a dream

Aren’t they both two kinds of extreme?

One is not right, and the other to blame

They both are two players in life’s little game

What if I told you the two are the same?

Two sides contain darkness

They both share the light

Aren’t they two topics we process at night?

Success and Failure are both based in No

Although one seems a red light, and the other a Go

Don’t they both give us direction we must really know?

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Frankly, it feels like Dr. Seuss. Life sometimes seems like a riddle and a rhyme.

I want to talk about failure and success. We have an idea of what the two experiences look like. We have the idea that one is good and one is bad. Let me propose both are valuable.

Can we be brave enough to recognize that failure can make us successful?

Can we be brave enough to realize that success in one area can mean failure in another?

Can we be brave enough to expect that our lives will have both?

Can we believe there is no SHAME in living with failure and no PRIDE in living with success?

I have failed many times. I have succeeded many times. My identity is not founded in either. I review my options and choose to move on, both from success and from failure.

My journey may shape me, but it will never define me. I will not be defined by the shame of failure or the accolades of success.

If I stay in my success, then I will become stale. My testimonies of yesteryear will define my existence and life will move on without me as I become deadened by my irrelevance.

If I stay in my failure, I will die of discouragement, bitterness and contention in my own spirit. I will be defined by my complacency and atrophy. There will be no room for my legacy.

I choose to thrive, live a life, and experience fullness. Gratitude will overtake me. Thankfulness will sustain me. Hope will justify me.

Success and Failure, I embrace you.

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“Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.” C.S. Lewis Original Photography by Toni Imsen — “Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.” C.S. Lewis
Original Photography and Graphic Design by Toni Imsen

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Toni is an artist, an author and an activist who spends her time creating works of art to bring love and light to the world. She writes with a purpose to encourage and empower humanity. Toni married her wonderful husband in 1990, is the mother of 3 beautiful human beings, and the grandmother of 1. Toni is an ordained minister, a business leader, and a former homemaker. You may visit her website at Toniimsen.com.