I wanted, for many many years, to be a mystery writer. Finally I wrote a mystery novel. I got a best-selling novelist to be my mentor and help me with the rewrite. I got an agent. They sent the book out. And sent it out. And sent it out. And it went nowhere.

I tried writing another book, and my mentor told me to dump it and start a third book. I did, but couldnt get into the idea and the book never materialized.

Which is all okay, because today Im a life coach, something Ive wanted to do for a long time and which allows me time to write if I want to, and I never would have gotten here if that book had been published.

You see, I can write part-time while I coach as a profession, but if that first book had been published, I would have seen myself as a mystery writer and nothing else. Thats the mindset I had at the timeIm going to be a mystery writer full-time.

Now, having failed at something important to me, I realize that I dont have to do only one thing. I dont even have to do anything for the rest of my life. I may coach for five years and say, Im done.

What my failure as a mystery writer taught me is that I have choices about what I do, and Im never locked into any one thing. That was a gift I could never pay for or find anywhere else.