Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life – well, valuable, but small – and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven’t been brave?

So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn’t it be the other way around?

I don’t really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void.

– Kathleen Kelly in You’ve Got Mail

I’m a great fan of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks movies, probably because I love romantic comedies.  I could watch You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle over and over!  They touch the heart and make the soul smile.  However, if you really pay attention, even the lightest plot can have some very thoughtful moments.

Take the above quote, for example.

Many people aren’t brave.  They choose the safe path, the one with the least risk and the least opportunity for failure.  Failure.  That’s how most of us would view an unsuccessful attempt at something.  Not the brave, though.  They view it as an opportunity for feedback, to learn how to do it better the next time.

In THIS article, Overcoming The Fear of Failure, Arina Nikitina states:  

Fear of failure is one of the greatest fears people have. Fear of failure is closely related to fear of criticism and fear of rejection. Successful people overcome their fear of failure. Fear incapacitates unsuccessful people.

The best thing to do is not to avoid the things we might fail at, but instead, we must learn how to fail.  Martha Beck wrote THIS article for Oprah.com a couple years ago: How To Fail Your Way to Success.  Through her humorous storytelling, Beck reminds us that:

We shouldn’t assign more significance to a failure than it deserves…Sometimes, there just isn’t anything you can do about failure…Some failures pave the way to sucesses…We must accept that failure is a part of life.

The second part of the movie quote above also demands our attention. 

 When we think about our lives, does it remind us of books we’ve read?  Or, has our life been such that we should write a book about it?  Are we sitting back and letting life just happen?  Or, are we bravely charging into life’s possible experiences?  Are we making things happen?

So, why is life the way it is?  Is it because of the path we took or because of the path we didn’t?  It’s an interesting question, isn’t it?

I don’t really want an answer. I just wanted to send this cosmic question out into the void.

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