I don’t like failure. I especially hate paying the price. I hate looking back with regret, wondering what might have been. I don’t think there’s anything worse than being stuck in a circumstance that could have been different if only I had made a different choice. That is a heavy price to pay.
Even more, I hate paying the price of mediocrity. This is that insulated middle ground, where I neither have to risk nor suffer much. But I am stuck in a comfortable state of longing. I wish things were better, but I really can’t complain too much. Isn’t life too short to spend just taking what comes along?
And then there’s the price of success. Like putting money away in savings, it’s something you don’t have to do. It means that you invest yourself in something that keeps you from an easier, more comfortable path. You look around at everybody else, and you ask yourself why you are choosing to do this hard thing. But in faith, you keep putting one foot ahead of the next, because you have a feeling that it’s going to be worth it. And the moment it starts paying off, you know that it was worth every bit of sacrifice. Nothing tastes as sweet as creating a life you love.
Happy Gals, it’s up to you. You can either pay the price of success, or you can pay the price of failure. But either way, you WILL pay a price. In hindsight I’ve learned that the price that is the greatest is the path that leads to a place without choice, wondering what might have been. To me, tragedy is when someone dies “with their music still in them,” because they, as Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “are always getting ready to live.” I like these words by Teddy Roosevelt: “Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure…than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy or suffer much, because they live in that gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
What is calling to you? Better health? An unfulfilled dream? Happier relationships? I know you can do it, and I’ll tell you why. A year and a half ago I had never been on Facebook. I didn’t know what html meant. I had never even looked on a blog. So when I got the feeling that I needed to start one, to say that I felt fear and overwhelm is a huge understatement. I didn’t have the slightest idea where to start. But piece by piece, the right people came into my life to teach me what I needed to do. I struggled with what to name the blog, how to actually put it on the internet, how to get it in front of you so you could read it – even something as simple as how to make images. I didn’t know how to fit it into my already incredibly busy life. It seemed like an overwhelming task. It still feels overwhelming!
But nothing compares with the moment when I connect with one of you and know that I’ve been able to help in some small way. That is when I know that the price I’ve paid is tiny compared to what I’m receiving in return. I call that success, and it is what YOU get to have when you pay the price. So don’t be scared. Go for it! Either way you are going to pay a price.
– Jenny
Image by Sandrine Hudgens at creoleartphotography
You rock girl! Two peas and a pod! 🙂 keep on keepin on’