Below is a clip from Denzel Washingtons commencement speech given at the University of Pennsylvania in 2011. Although it has been six years since this powerful and motivational speech, it is still being circulated and revised.
Today it holds just as much truth, power, and inspiration as it did the day it was first delivered. These are wise words to remember as we all try to gain our footing on this uneven ground that we walk along together, through this journey of life.
We are all going to stumble in our lives, it’s an inevitable fact. The world will, at times, discourage us more than it will encourage us. However, it is at these times that we must persist. In these moments we need not focus on the failure that is now behind us, but rather, we must remind ourselves that failure represents an effort.
One cannot fail unless they are trying. In that failed effort focus on the positive, and be sure to always fall forward to see what lies ahead. With enough stumbles and enough efforts, eventually, we will fall right into the right place at the right time, and you will catch that break.
Fall forward —
