THE EDISON TALLY

Here’s a quote from Thomas Edison that I love:

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

The other day I posted a reply to Mr. Edison on Twitter:

“Dear Mr. Edison: I haven’t found 10,000 ways that won’t work yet, but I’m working on it!”

Then I decided it would be a fantastic idea to keep track of my “ways that don’t work” as if they were successes, with an Edison Tally! I mean, in the end, the only real failure is not trying. How can you succeed if you don’t even try?

I’ve started my list below, and I’ve put links back to whatever blog posts provided the inspiration for the item on the list.

So here is my Tally – please add your own “lessons learned” to the list by commenting at the bottom of the page, otherwise I’ll be trying to get to 10,000 by myself!

1. I can’t get better if I feel horrible about myself.

2. MS (or ANY diagnosis, really) changes things. I’m not the same person with the same abilities as before. I am now Tabula Rasa, a blank slate, and I get to reinvent myself as I go along!

3. Just because I “used to be able” to something doesn’t mean I can do it as easily now.

4. Just because I CAN do something now, doesn’t automatically make it a good idea!

5. Gravity trumps sheer force of will when dealing with range hoods.

6. Great Quote: “I think everyone should experience defeat at least once during their career. You learn a lot from it.” – Lou Holtz

7. Pushing myself to exhaustion doesn’t show me where my limits are – it just shows me where they’re not – AGAIN!

8. Being smart doesn’t make you a better person. It just makes you more aware of what you’re doing wrong.

9. Great Quote: “In some attempts, it is glorious even to fail.” – Longinus

10. Another Great Quote: “Remember, you only have to succeed the last time.” – Brian Tracy

11. Even a Booby Prize outranks everyone else who didn’t compete!

12. Be aware of the choices you make, and the reasons you make them.

13. Mistakes are the easiest things to learn from – they have the negative reinforcement built right in.

14. If there’s one thing you keep procrastinating about, that’s probably the one thing most important for you to do, the one that will affect the greatest change in your life.