Abraham Lincoln once said, “My great concern is not whether I have failed, but whether I am content with my failure.”
Our celebration of the new year is not just to remember the creation of our world, but also to embrace the newness and opportunity for our own rebirth and renewal.
In life, very often, we dream of a project or something we’d really love to master such as learning a new language or mastering a musical instrument, but we hesitate to move forward because it seems beyond our ability or too much effort. In that way, we shy away from many things which are achievable.
Success in any area in our lives comes from experience, and experience comes from learning from mistakes, so in reality, any failure is a step closer to success.
As a successful businessman said to a newcomer, “You just start and something will happen.” Just as a composer may have only one melody in mind, but as he begins to write, one idea seems to inspire another, and an entire symphony springs to life seemingly out of nowhere with the original melody nowhere to be found.
As the new year begins, we should be open to renew ourselves to new possibilities and opportunities and not be stuck with self doubt and the burden of past mistakes or the anxiety of perhaps future failures.
Abraham Lincoln lived by his own advice, for after failing in business, suffering personal setbacks and losing eight elections, he became one of the greatest and beloved presidents of the United States.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Shaul
