It’s a simple phrase, yet it’s an infuriating theory to put into practice. 

We all love success, we revel in it, idolise and sanctify it, celebrate and bask in the glory of its light. 

We do indeed love a winner! 

Effort alone though is rarely the path to success, so we persevere, get knocked down but get up again, we fall, and yet we continue to rise.

And so, we come back to the ‘freedom to fail’. 

Without failure, with out seemingly unrewarded effort we cannot achieve.

Popular culture is awash with tales of musicians who never made it until their third album, and now they comfortably sell out stadiums…

And we love these bands. 

Overnight success is (exploitive talent shows notwithstanding) indeed such a rare commodity that we do indeed call it a phenomenon.   

So, it is the man in the arena, it is the triumph of high achievement, it is the refusal to be a cold timid voyeur on life that gives us success through perseverance, and it is the freedom to fail that allows it all to happen.

We are still not published, and I am still very much wiping the dust and blood of as yet unrewarded effort from my face.

I am still looking up into the crowd acknowledging those warm gestures of encouragement and support, and still refusing to surrender, still looking for that one face in the crowd who is leaning forward helping hand outstretched… 

The breath stealing sucker punch of rejection does hurt, does hurt because we have invested effort and emotion in our project, but we MUST keep the mantra that failure is only a temporary option.

We must be free to celebrate failure.

Still typing away – still trying!