What comes to mind when you hear the word failure? You probably are thinking about the times when you have thought you were not good enough and that you should just give up. While failure can involve those thoughts and emotions, failure also has the power to make us stronger or wiser. A simple definition of failure is: An act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success. When I think of this definition of failure, I am reminded of Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb. While there are many conflicting stories of how many times Edison “failed” at inventing the electric light,bulb, most agree it was in the thousands before he found the right combination of materials. One of Edison’s most famous quotes is, “ I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. I am not discouraged because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward."