How experienced are you?

“You always pass failure on your way to success” Mickey Rooney, 1920-2014

This statement sums up Mickey’s life. Born in 1920 he began his career accidentally when he was only 17 months old! His parents were Vaudeville actors and had hidden him on the stage behind a shoeshine box, during the act he sneezed loudly and the man operating the spotlight shined it on him and he began to play a little “mouth organ” that was hanging around his neck! That was the beginning. The producer saw a gold mine, bought the little fellow a tuxedo and it began, his big break came in 1927 and after a few years faded into nothingness. He became addicted to alcohol and drugs, got better, got worse, then finally in 1979 he was going to do a short stint in “Sugar Babies” on Broadway and made a hit! Suddenly he was back on top! So from starting on top of the mountain to going to the deepest valley, addictions, eight marriages and finally a solid recovery! He knew what he was talking about when he said that you “pass failure on the way to success.”

So what does that mean to me? Mickey had his failure and success in the public eye, everybody knew all his problems. If you have had a failure no matter how hugely horrible it has been, at least it wasn’t aired on a national news show! We can get up and dust ourselves off and start all over again.

What has been your failure? Fired from your job? Didn’t stay on your diet? Broke all the promises you made yourself on New Year’s Day? Can’t keep a relationship together?  Just walk on past that failure and see the success that is waiting for you just around the corner!

There is another statement that says, “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience – well, that comes from poor judgment”.  If that is true then I have ton of experience in many areas of my life!

Now the question is:  How experienced are you?