Successes feel so wonderful and are so much fun that it is easy to know how to be with them. We celebrate them!

Living in a success-oriented world, it is easy to forget that failures also have merit. Consider this article by the New York times, titled, What If the Secret to Success is Failure? by Paul Tough.

In this article, the writer refers to the academic research of Angela Duckworth, an assistant professor at Penn State University. In researching the success of students, she discovered that self-control played as vital a role in the achievement of students as IQ, and as she continued her research, she began to measure, “grit”.

According to Tough’s report about Duckworth, People who accomplished great things, she noticed, often combined a passion for a single mission with an unswerving dedication to achieve that mission, whatever the obstacles and however long it might take. She decided she needed to name this quality, and she chose the word “grit.”

So here is the, sometimes, uncomfortable truth. In order to succeed at anything we are likely to experience some failures along the way. As a special education teacher, it never occurred to me to call those moments failures. I called them learning. And I still do.

That principle is true whether we are learning how to ski, operate a computer program or develop spiritually. Sometimes we are right on the mark and sometimes we miss it as we are learning new concepts and self-mastery.

From a Sacred Feminine perspective, each perceived failure (or moment of learning) is an opportunity to discover our true potential. It is a moment when we can, if we choose, discover a depth of compassion for the fullness of who we are—as we are—regardless of our perceived success or failure.

In loving ourselves fully, we open a doorway into our potential that is unstoppable. It is unstoppable because it is the true expression of our Divine selves.

In those moments of realization, we don’t need anyone else’s approval or permission. We know from the depths of our being who we are and what we are going to accomplish, and we surrender to the grace that leads us to our full expression.

We effort less and we achieve in greater joy.

In spiritual awareness, “failure” is an invitation to go within and to experience a deeper truth or ourselves. It is an opportunity to discover the depths of our love. Perhaps, celebrating our “failures” is as appropriate and celebrating our “successes.”