But you bring to light the other side of the argument very eloquently above. The US is not only the land of opportunity, but the land of second opportunities.

Another, similar quality of our economy is the ease with which we can fire people. Just goes to show that making something unpleasant easier to do sometimes works out better for everyone.}

I had the pleasure to sit and watch a few minutes of a cheesy movie over the weekend where one character said to the other as they sipped a brew on the balcony of a plush pad:
“Life is a series of decisions you make and should never look back on”.

Cheesy movie but that statement stood out to me.}

Fear of Failure is much higher for many here, though there are obvious exceptions that prove the rule.

I guess if your dreams and passions *are* the business then business failure becomes a pretty fundamentally personal failure. I think this is a critical difference between a ‘professional’ business and a ‘lifestyle’ business; the ability to separate the personal from the professional, not to be a cold hearted capitalist but to give yourself the protection against failure.}

Its never easy to fail and then rise again. It takes more than just courage and positive will power. How many will rediscover themselves again?

But the most important thing is not to lose the dream and passion. You can lose everything but not your dream and passion.}

Reminds me of an article I read sometime back about the fabled “inability to admit failure” in Silicon Valley. The writer presented it as some sort of syndrome. I think that it was really just an acceptance that dwelling on failure is essentially useless.

We all have battle-scars. The question is, do we move on or do we debate the wheres and whys?}