Failure: noun, omission of occurrence or performance, a lack of success, a falling short.

Failure is often looked at as a bad thing, a negative word to use when you don’t get the results you were hoping for — or rather when others don’t feel like you got the result they expected.

But why? Why are we so quick to throw around the word failure?

Sometimes, what others say as failure really isn’t failure — it’s an experience, a chance to grow and change, to get out of your comfort zone and try something new.

For example, when I auditioned for “The Voice” last year so many people were interested if I had advanced onto the next round; since I didn’t, they were so quick to assume that I failed, that the eight-hour drive to Memphis, T. was a waste of time, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

I actually won in so many ways.

I lept out of my comfort zone, ignoring the fear of not being good enough for the judge.  

I let my voice grow and change.

I got the chance to sing with new and different group people that I never would’ve had the chance to meet in Inman.

I made new memories with my family, saw new sights through four states and countless cities.

Yet, still, people are so quick to say I failed.

And so many other people feel the same pressure, that if their success isn’t straight-forward and obvious that people are going to talk, to judge and to describe their effort as a fail.

But it doesn’t just come from outsiders, many times our toughest critics are ourselves.

When that precal test comes back and it’s a C instead of a B, you’re quick to call yourself a failure.

When you don’t get the role you wanted in the play or that solo in chorus, you see it as a failure.

Why do we do this?

We have to learn that success isn’t always a number, a role or a golden ticket. It’s things like how many experiences you gained and the things you learned. It’s a chance to restart and try again, despite being knocked down.

As humans all relying on other humans for our encouragement, we need to become more open-minded to the measure of success, to be encouraging towards ourselves, boost ourselves up and boost others up in the meantime.

“Don’t bury your failures, let them inspire you.” – Robert Kiyosaki