Since they come from good

I've found that there are several categories of good

failures. These are the kinds of failures you might

actually seek out. Since they come from good, not bad,

decisions, they are the best way to fail.

1. High Upside, Low Downside

There are many areas of life where the upside is far

greater than the downside. When I write an article, it

takes about 90 minutes of work. If nobody comments or

responds to that post, then I've just wasted 90 minutes.

the doghouse

Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.

As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this One noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up.

"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt.

The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."

With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands."

The world is full of people who need someone who understands.

more pervasive

One of the more pervasive and destructive mental tendencies I've seen is that of focusing on what we want instead of what we have. It doesn't seem to make my difference how much we have, we just keep expanding our list of desires, which guarantees we will remain dissatisfied. The mind-set that says "I'll be happy" when this desire is fulfilled is the same mind-set that will repeat itself once that desire is met.

We want this or that. If we don't get what we want, we keep thinking about all that we don't have and we remain dissatisfied. If we do get what we want, we simply recreate the same thinking in our new circumstances. So, despite getting what we want, we still remain unhappy. Happiness can't be found when we are yearning for new desires.

erected between us

first fell in love with husband when we would sit and talk in the living room of my old apartment in front of the (ceiling-to-floor) windows with the long, white curtains, drinking cups of scalding, black coffee. We would just sit and talk-sometimes until sunrise. I was so completely thrilled to have finally found that one special person and our wedding way was the happiest day of my life.

However, it was not long after our honeymoon when my husband climbed into the tomb called "the office" and wrapped his mind in a shroud of paperwork and buried himself in clients, and I said nothing for fear of turning into a nagging wife. It seemed as if overnight an invisible wall had been erected between us.

When our daughter, Desiree was born she quickly became the center of my world. I watched her grow from infant to toddler, and I no longer seemed to care that my husband was getting busier and spending less time at home. Somewhere between his work schedule and our home and young daughter, we were losing touch with each other. That invisible wall was now being cemented by the mortar of indifference.

Desiree went off to preschool and I returned to college to finish my degree, and I tried to find myself in the courses I took; I complained with all the other young women on campus about men who are insensitive. Sometimes late at night I cried and begged the whispering darkness to tell me who I really was, and my husband lay beside snoring like a hibernating bear unaware of my winter.

One day

One day I told Daniel that the great failing in my life had been that I didn‘t take a year
or two off to travel when I finished college. This is the best way, to my way of thinking,
to broaden oneself and develop a larger perspective on life. Once I had married and begun
working, I found that the dream of living in another culture had vanished.
Daniel thought about this. His friends said that he would be insane to put his career on
hold. But he decided it wasn‘t so crazy. After graduation, he worked as a waiter at
college, a bike messenger and a house painter. With the money he earned, he had enough to go
to Paris.
The night before he was to leave, I tossed in bed. I was trying to figure out something to
say. Nothing came to mind. Maybe, I thought, it wasn‘t necessary to say anything.

rather than waiting

Luckily, there is a way to be happy. It involves changing the emphasis of our thinking from what we want to what we have. Rather than wishing you were able to take a vacation to Hawaii, think of how much fun you have had close to home. The list of possibilities is endless! Each time you notice yourself falling into the "I wish life were different" trap, back off and start over. Take a breath and remember all that you have to be grateful. When you focus not on what you want, but on what you have, you end up getting more of what you want anyway. If you focus on the good qualities of your spouse, she'll be more loving. If you are grateful for your job rather than complaining about it, you'll do a better job, be more productive, and probably end up getting a raise any-way. If you focus on ways to enjoy yourself around home rather than waiting to enjoy yourself in Hawaii, you'll end up having more fun. If you ever do get to Hawaii, you'll be in the habit of enjoying yourself. And, if by some chance you don't, you have a great life anyway.

Make a note of yourself to start thinking more about what you have than what you want. If you do, your life will start appearing much better than before. For perhaps the first time in your life, you'll know what it means to feel satisfied.

school science fair

His finest hour, though, came at a school science fair. He entered an exhibit showing how
the circulatory system works. It was primitive and crude, especially compared to the fancy,
computerized, blinking-light models entered by other students. My wife, Sara, felt
embarrassed for him.
It turned out that the other kids had not done their own work-their parents had made their
exhibits. As the judges went on their rounds, they found that these other kids couldn‘t
answer their questions. Daniel answered every one. When the judges awarded the Albert
Einstein Plaque for the best exhibit, they gave it to him.
By the time Daniel left for college he stood six feet tall and weighed 170 pounds. He was
muscular and in superb condition, but he never pitched another inning, having given up
baseball for English literature. I was sorry that he would not develop his athletic talent,
but proud that he had made such a mature decision.