Nothing Ventured: Burned-Out Light Bulbs, Missed Baskets, and a Bombed F Harmonic Minor Scale

Nothing ventured, nothing failed at.

It's true. If you don't try to do anything, you can't fail.

Thomas Edison ventured to make a light bulb and failed thousands of times, right?

Edison, while still in the process of trying to find the right filament, was asked if he felt like a failure and thought he should give up. In reply, he said,

"Why would I feel like a failure? And why would I ever give up? I now know definitively over 9,000 ways that an electric light bulb will not work. Success is almost in my grasp."

And, success he eventually found.

Wait - can you fail and still be successful?

Of his career, Michael Jordan said:

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

He has found success, too. He's a household name in sports.

But what does it take to be accepted to BYU's School of Music?

Miriam Burton (yep, that's me), while still in the process of trying to be accepted, said:

"Bahaha! A miracle...?"

After working specifically toward a 10-minute audition for something like two years and then bombing an F Harmonic Minor scale during said audition, it's VERY easy to feel VERY discouraged. Yes, I'm speaking from personal experience here. But even though that was disappointing, I'm still glad I tried. I learned so much from the process. I don't know if I'll make it, but I'm just glad I went for it.

Certainly this blog is supposed to be about things related to history, but I think this is an important point that has applied all throughout history. Nothing gained throughout history was gained without trying for it. There's a reason that "nothing ventured, nothing gained" is a famous phrase. I would supplement it with a second phrase, however. You aren't promised that by venturing, you will automatically gain what you are trying to get. But there is one thing that you will almost certainly get from venturing, and I would sum it up by saying:

Nothing ventured, nothing learned.

Go. Live your dream. And if you fail, learn from it.

And in case you get discouraged along the way, here's a little lighthearted encouragement: