Where Growth Begins: Rising Again & The Lessons in Falling

 

Dear Reader,

This morning I found myself reflecting on a simple but powerful truth shared by Reinhold Messner:

“Through my failures I have learned how to live—and the more I failed, the more I learned. In my search for the limits, I have failed more than most, and it is this that has made me successful, over and over again.”

This tells me something important:
When others point out my failings, I can choose to receive their words not as judgment—but as instruction… lessons that help me rise and walk again.

The world often teaches us to avoid falling, to measure our worth by how well we succeed without error.
But experience—real, lived experience—teaches something very different.

Messner reminds us:
We learn how to live by falling… and rising… again and again.

This thought is not new—it echoes across time.

Confucius said:
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

And in the quiet wisdom of scripture:

From the Book of Proverbs:
“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.”

And in the Book of Ether:
“I give unto men weakness that they may be humble… then will I make weak things become strong.”

These are not words of condemnation.
They are words of invitation.

An invitation to see our failures not as defeat,
but as the ground where humility, strength, and wisdom begin to grow.

In recovery, I have come to understand this more personally.

The Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book reminds us:
“We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.”

That means I am not asked to be flawless.
I am asked to be willing.

Willing to fall…
Willing to rise…
Willing to learn…
Willing to continue.

Samuel Beckett captured this journey simply:
“Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

There is freedom in that thought.

Not that we must get it right the first time,
but that each step—even the missteps—moves us forward.

So I offer this closing thought:

If you find yourself looking back at where you have fallen, consider this—

You may not be behind.
You may be exactly where growth begins.

Each stumble carries a lesson.
Each lesson shapes the soul.
And each rising brings you closer to the person you are becoming.

Walk gently…
for this path leads to a “happy destiny.”

Good Morning