A friend of mine took up a new hobby to help cope with the boredom of being stuck indoors recently, and decided ontaking up landscape painting, something she always fancied doing.

She shared with me that she was becoming very frustrated with making so many beginner’s mistakes. This had led her to consider giving up, on more than a few occasions. She confided that she would spend hours trying to capture some glorious view, only to realise that she hadn’t come anywhere near doing it any justice. This quest for perfection was eating away at her.

I shared with my friend a quotation from the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” We discussed what this meant and how these words could help my friend stay motivated and continue to practice on her paintings.

She admitted that this helped her to understand for the very first time that no-one however talented, can expect to walk the path to success without sometimes stubbing their toes on the way.

Let’s try to remember these words next time we need a wee bit encouragement.