NO CONDITION CONCERNING WEALTH has been more misrepresented than success and failure. Many people think you can either succeed or fail. Well, failure is yet another illusion, and success is all that there is. This is such a profound truth that you should make every effort to understand it.
All of life is a success full of successive moments.
“Failure,” when used without fear as a learning process, is what eliminates weakness and builds strength in thought and character. This new strength in thought and character is essential and critical to the future success that you seek. “Failure” is truly a successive moment, a moment of success in its own right. Through “failure,” you learn how to succeed and what eventual triumph tastes like, for how would you know how to relish the sweet taste of triumph if you did not know how “failure” tasted? And how would you know how to arrive at your intended triumph without the tools designed to get you there?
—I am wealth. I am abundance. I am joy.—
The most common cause of “failure” is the lack of clear and focused goals and visualizations. The universe, life, literally lacks something to work with, so it does nothing. Life is images of the mind expressed. And without images, there is no expression.
—I am wealth. I am abundance. I am joy.—
Often, the greatest opportunity to be all that you can be lies in your darkest hour. Your worst moments are often your biggest liberators, your highest teachers. Do not fight and resist them when they come. Instead, look into them for the lessons they hold—the liberation they bring. Suffering is always an indication of an error in thinking. You are not designed to suffer. You were designed to enjoy life.
—I am wealth. I am abundance. I am joy.—
Gain and loss are two sides of the same thing. Through loss, you gain new things. Through loss, you know the sweetness of gain. Without loss, there would be no gain. It is the struggling against loss and the preference of gain over loss that causes suffering and retarded growth. It is the acceptance of both loss and gain as gifts and as fuel for your growth that will propel you to greater heights faster. In the end, you will see that loss was not really loss. At the point when you recognize the gains you got from the loss, you will see that the loss was really a blessing, and that loss does not exist. Every loss has a gain, if only you accept and look into it and have patience. Loss is usually the result of an error in your thinking, in which case you have the opportunity to correct your thoughts and make massive gains; or it is a new opportunity selected by your higher self designed to take you higher, a chance to discover a new, higher truth.
—I am wealth. I am abundance. I am joy.—
Use all conditions to enjoy and build yourself—that is what they are there for. Even the “negative” ones are useful. If, for example, you are faced with a situation in which you are under oppressive people, first make sure you choose to be in a liberated, self-loving, and loving state of being internally (the opposite of oppression). Think, speak, and act liberty, self-love, and love. Show your oppressors kindness and forgiveness, rather than being oppressive to them when you get the chance. That is how you get out of your negative circumstances, and by visualizing in detail, with belief, the way you wish to next create your world. When you become a non-oppressive person who loves yourself and others, truly, internally, you will find yourself leaving that oppressive situation. The negative situation will have done its work in “fixing” you, with your voluntary participation. Always remember that, at some level, whether you are conscious of it or not, you choose the circumstances you are in.
—I am wealth. I am abundance. I am joy.—
When you look within to find the error in thought causing your suffering, always look with humility so that your ego does not interfere. Look with sincerity to find truthfully. Look with no self-pity or mercy—call a spade a spade. Remember, it is a private exercise; no one else will know and ridicule you, so feel free to be precise and honest with yourself.
—I am wealth. I am abundance. I am joy.—
Most people have been programmed to fear failure. They give up to avoid failure, or they do not even attempt just so that they will not fail. Failure, however, is an illusion. Begin to see it as an illusion. Failure, suffering, is an essential component to success. It is what helps you correct wrong thought if you approach it with an attitude of learning. Through failure, you learn how to succeed. By trying and failing, you refine your thought and point it ever closer to success. But this is so only if you do not give up.
Through failure, you get to know success and how to get there. How else can you know what success tastes like if you do not know what it does not taste like? And how can you get there without knowing how? Think about that. Failure is an integral part of success. Failure is not the opposite of success, a separate entity from success. It is actually a successive moment that leads to ultimate success.
Failure is success. They are the same things, but on different ends of the spectrum of achievement—just like hot and cold are different ends of the spectrum of temperature on a thermometer. Failure and success are both different vibrations of the same thing.
Failure is not failure as such. It is only truly failure when you accept it as the end. But if you accept it as a blessed part of the process, a part that helps you succeed further and know what this further success tastes like, then you can never ever possibly fail, ever. Failure is an illusion. Stop fearing it; love it for the gifts it brings you.
—I am wealth. I am abundance. I am joy.—
Life is a collection of experiences. The challenges make up part of the experiences. Use the challenges to become better and enjoy the rewarding and triumphant experience that follows every challenge.
—I am wealth. I am abundance. I am joy.—
Every try is a success that leads to the eventual desired outcome, the big success. View it that way.
—I am wealth. I am abundance. I am joy.—
Your survival is guaranteed. You do not have to qualify for your dignity and life.
—I am wealth. I am abundance. I am joy.—
All other things held constant, to the extent that an individual or society encourages and applauds all moments, events, and attempts, seeing them as successive moments of successes, so will it have wealth and happiness.
Now that we have defined success and uncovered the illusion of failure, it is time to have a look at the object of the quest for success—in other words, what people want. Here is another secret: desire, but never want.