The Back Door to Success I have received many graduation announcements in the past week – and am presently looking at one. A young man from our church, he will graduate from a local high school this weekend. I know he will hear speeches on citizenship, goal-setting, following your dreams –that sort of thing. I want to address a topic that is usually avoided at graduation ceremonies: failure. Of course it seems ironic to address this issue at a time of academic success, but it is an inevitable part of life. It happens to us all – and it is important to remember that failure does not have to be fatal. Failure is the back door to success. There is no such thing as success without first experiencing failure. Failure is “paying your dues” so that we learn the value of success. Unfortunately, many people become so obsessed with the fear of failure that they forget to live and they never take a risk. Every successful person paid his dues with failure of some kind. Winston Churchill had a speech impediment. This caused him to be unresponsive in school and a mediocre student. But he found history and politics fascinating and determined as a boy to overcome his speech difficulty so that he might enter politics. He began to write out his thoughts and recite them with deliberation. History regards him as one of the greatest orators of all time. Churchill, and others like him, is what we call a “strong person.” But what is a strong person, after all? Everyone has a handicap of some sort and everyone makes mistakes. Strong people know this. They admit their mistakes, even laugh at them. But most important of all, they learn from their mistakes and do not repeat them. That is what makes them strong. They understand what President Theodore Roosevelt said, “The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.” You don’t really want to be a person who never does anything, do you? I passed the Akron, Ohio home of Thomas A. Edison recently. I recall the episode where someone challenged Edison by reminding him that he failed thousands of times while experimenting with the incandescent light (the light bulb). I think the challenge was “You failed 10,000 times before succeeding.” “No, I didn’t fail,” replied Edison. “I discovered 10,000 ways not to make the incandescent light.” Failure was no stranger to Thomas Edison. But he learned from each failed experiment. He refused to accept each of these experiments as a permanent defeat. Consequently, each failed experiment became the path for success. Doing nothing is the epitome of failure. We were put on this earth to do something. That something was very eloquently put by Jesus: “Love God with all your heart and love others as yourself.” So my advice to graduates is very simple. Live, as best you can, to the standards set by Jesus. Give your best effort at all times, but expect failure in your efforts from time to time, because that is what life will occasionally bring. Learn from your failures. Do not repeat them. And always remember: failure is… the back door to success.