It may have been Einstein who quipped, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results. From Edison, we hear that he failed over a thousand times, trying different materials, all wrong, until he got it right. So how many times do you do something different and still get it wrong. The answer is always the last "different" recipe or formula that you try. It would still have been the answer if it was the first choice.
Sir Conan Doyle, puts it this way: When you have ruled out all the potential answer's, what is left is the solution. In my first sale's job, we were trained to understand that you get around 9 "no's" before you get a sale, and that those "no's" are essential to getting a sale. UPS training includes that one satisfied customer typically brings 10 new customers, and a life-time income of $100,000. So any little delivery could be very costly, if it is not done right.
So, trying 9 times, and getting it wrong, is a 10% average; not a very impressive average. Yet this is the paradigm that we live with. And from this accepted success rate, we edge close to Einstein's definition of insanity. Like gambling, where the house always wins, our life actions bow down to this house wins acceptance. Why do we have to make so many error's before we finally get it right.
Cause and effect, is a learned skill. With no harsh lessons, most humans naturally learn to crawl and walk, though many a fall precedes success. When learning to ride a bike, we might start with training wheels, after a trike, and then choose to fall on softer surfaces before we take the rubber to the road. Most people become nearly 100% able to stay upright, after truly wobbly beginnings. We learn how to integrate and assimilate information throughout life, and when we fail, we typically try to gain different perspectives, and then we try try again. Mindfulness and meditation may be a way to have a better perspective from the beginning, The intention of prayer is powerful, and part of the rudder correcting practices of life.
The moral of this blog, is acceptance, patience, vigilance and success. With repetitive failures, we may find that we are not inspired to get back on the horse that tossed us last time. We may find that we continue to choose the wrong partner or friends, we may know better, but act poorly, we might even get sucker punched, but the truth is, eventually you will stumble upon a better path, and the outcomes will change. So, to borrow an overused expression, "Hang in there" for this too shall pass.
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