Dare to fail

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” -Robert Kennedy

I love this quote, which I got from one of my daily quote emails. I have another one from Soren Kierkegaard: “To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose one’s self.” And as my daddy says his daddy said, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

Do you want to live? Then dare to do so! Jump outside of your comfort zones, your safety lines, your boundaries. Tackle the world head on. Don’t be afraid of failure, of wounded pride. Go fly that kite – it may take ten tries to get in the air, but that tenth time of soaring is definitely worth the first nine thuds.

Don’t just stand there, shivering in your safe corner, afraid to live. You will regret it, so leap into life! You might find embarrassment, heartbreak, confusion, even failure. But it will be all worth it, because living is a beautiful thing that you don’t want to miss out on. If you watch closely, you might even find a few moments of euphoric happiness.

So forget about the known, the secure, the safe. Find the spot on the map that says “here there be dragons” – and go there!

“One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of shore for a very long time.” -Andre Gide

 

The Power of Summer

I haven’t had much time for blogging because I’ve been so busy living! I still don’t have anything long or dramatic to share with you, but I wanted to pass along this quote I came across last week:

“Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it!”

I had to crack up when I saw this. I had just got back from church camp, and while there I got the worst sunburn I’ve ever had, with huge blisters on my shoulders that left me in pain no matter which way I moved (or didn’t move!). Yet there I stood, telling my family what a totally awesome time I’d had at camp. Ha.

I hope that all my many blog readers are having summers that are every bit as fantastic as mine (minus the sunburns!).