Not a day goes by that I don't find inspiration from some wise person's inspiring words - written or spoken words that capture the essence of an emotion I am feeling, or offer encouragement to keep going, to keep trying. Yesterday I came across this Peale quote...after reading it I almost didn't jot it down in my inspiration notebook. But I'm glad I did because after rereading this simple quote I started thinking: if you take failure off the table as an option, then failure is no longer a possible outcome.

I remember watching an interview with Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, a few years ago. They were discussing the success of their marraige and I was intriqued by the pledge they had made to one another when they got married: divorce is not an option. They decided on the day they took their vows that no matter what happened they would have to find another way to work through their problems, because divorce was never going to be on the table - it was, and is, not an option for them. And though they said they have been through some challenging times as a couple, they know they are going to have to find another way to work things out because they had made this pledge, and intended to keep it.

Peale's quote got me thinking - what if no matter what challenge, no matter what struggle, no matter what difficulty you are facing in life - what if quitting is not an option? I am not talking about an extreme action, but rather the self-defeating thinking of thoughts such as "I don't think I can do this..." not being a part of the dialogue in your head. What if the word "quit" or "failure" are not a part of your vocabulary...and every time you think, "I can't..." you stop yourself from that kind of thinking, and replace it with thoughts of, "Sure I can...it's tough and hard to see my way through this, but I am going to keep pusing, to keep trying, by taking one small step after another..."

Someting tells me that if failure is not a possiblity, success is inevitable - sooner or later.
~ Andrea :-)