| “We learn wisdom from failure much more
than from success. We often discover what will do, by
finding out what will not do; and probably he who never
made a mistake never made a discovery.” --by Samuel
Smiles
I read about the first performance of
“The Barber of Seville,” written by Rossini. It was a
disaster. The audience was in an uproar. The audience
was wild---no one had an experience like this in their
careers. The cast was afraid to leave the opera house.
Someone said, “Rossini is not here, this
is terrible! He’s probably killed himself.” They found
him at his house, already in bed and sound asleep. They
woke him to tell him of the failure of the performance.
Rossini said: “Well, evidently ‘The
Barber’ isn’t very good. I will have to do better next
time.” “The Barber” went on to become an operatic
masterpiece and has remained so for over a hundred
years.
A failure of any kind can be a severe
blow, but the real setback in a failure is letting
ourselves feel that we can’t do anything else or
anything better. Past failures, then, can be the
foundation for future successes when we remember that we
can always try again.
The story ended with this prayer, “Lord,
help me learn that you will always grant me another
chance to correct my mistakes. Let men do the same.”
* * * * *
The new town council held its first
meeting this week. One new member was absent, but
everyone seemed to be congenial, and accepted new
committee assignments. We commend Neil, Roger, Joanne,
Charlie, Cheryl, Delford and Gaylen for filling these
important positions. The town faces many challenges.
Looking back through our history, we find that there
have always been ups and downs, good years and not so
good years. They will need our support and constant
prayer. Let us be involved with them.
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