Happiness quotation from J. K. Rowling.

J. K. Rowling gave the commencement address at Harvard a few days ago. I read it online, and I loved it.

In particular, I loved what she said about failure. One of my resolutions is to Enjoy the fun of failure, and I think what she said is quite true. I especially appreciated her observation, “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

Also, one of the most important of my Twelve Commandments is “Be Gretchen.” Why is this so hard? Why do so many people (like myself) choose careers for the wrong reasons? Rowling touched on this when she observed, “Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged.”

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Comments

[Shanel Yang]

Thanks, Gretchen! You have given me such amazing food for thought. J. K. Rowling is one of my favorite heroes. Her words that you quoted here have made me rethink what I'm doing with my career right now.

I also became a lawyer for the wrong reasons. Though it taught me much about the world and myself, my heart has always been in writing and teaching -- especially inner city school kids b/c I was one of them.

I started my blog last year with the original goal of targeting Teens, Immigrants, and Minorities for important life lessons; but, of course, the internet is a poor medium to reach these groups for any truly educational content. So, I gradually moved away from it to self help for middle class adults, which also interests me, but is nowhere near my burning desire to teach poor kids about life in and how best to prepare for it.

Suddenly, I'm dreaming about some sort of circuit speaking tour of all the local Los Angeles County junior high and high schools as a form of outreach to provide these kids with the life lessons they so desperately need to help them in the years to come -- the kind of advice I always wished I had when I was in their shoes. It makes me happy just thinking about it!

[Sally Huss]

Ahh, Gretchen, a thought a day. What a wonderful thing to do and encourage others to do. Great! I commend you on your dedication to happiness. I am also in the business of happines through my art and writings. I do a daily syndicated feature for newspapers called Happy Musings (King Features) -- a little life thought with a little bright piece of art to go with it. One of these Musings is posted on my blog daily. Please take a peek. Today's has an amusing jumping-for-joy frog.

Over the years, happiness has been my pursuit and focus. I even did a book entitled THE HAPPY BOOK (Ten Speed Press) containing 30 exercises for greater joy. I have written one for children too and am working on the illustration to offer it in a downloadable form on my Website.

I am eager to connect with others who are interested in this very important subject. You are on my list.

Thanks for shedding light on the most light-filled of all topics. After all, the happier we are the happier we get!

Smiles,
Sally Huss
“Life is wonderful! Don’t forget it.”

Email: sally@sallyhuss.com
Blog: http://www.blogher.com/blog/sallyhuss/

[Colon Cleanse]

'Failure is the first step for success'is what I belive. While making a great marketing plan for my health innovations, I setback after 2 years to 'nil'n didnt given up the race. After 6 months turmoil stages it is now on commandable position and I didnt loose my confiedence.
JK Rowling should be serious icon model for us.

thanks for inspired writing.

[T.A.P.]

Thank you for pointing this wonderful speech out to me. Rowling is one of my personal heroes, and what she says about failure is inspiring! Also her experiences at Amnesty International had me gripped to the screen. If some of those Harvard students don't understand why she gave the commencement speech instead of a 'leader', then they truly have still to learn a lot.

[Sarah]

Thank you so much for posting this--I missed that JKR was giving the commencement speech, despite my devotion to HP.

This quote: "Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged" particularly resonates with me, and it is a kick in the pants to pursue my passions and not just my paycheck.

[Alex Fayle]

I like how she took what is normally a very pessimistic statement (I've never succeeded at anything) and used it to spur her on to success.

Since JKR first published HP, a whole new generation of writers have a superstar role model - not something that most writers will be able to to reach, but it's a great dream to keep me going when the writing and editing start dragging me down...

Great post! (as usual)
Alex

[Amy]

Inspiring. Thanks, Gretchen.

[MJ]

Excellent point. Reminds me of this great favorite of mine:

Ever tried.
Ever failed.
No matter.
Try again.
Fail again.
Fail better.
Samuel Beckett

I won't go into the rant that I am quite capable of about the ills of the legal profession (though I happily write this from a quite "sane" and decent place, having left the craziest, nastiest place) but I think that work fields, like many law firms, that treat any kind of failure - or even difference of opinion - as high treason or a sign of personal failure do a terrible disservice to the younger people training and learning in those fields. Failing can mean that you do good things like taking risks, thinking big, thinking different. Discouraging this or unrealistically hoping for perfection the first time out is very bad - rewards never reaching far and merely polishing off the tried and true.

Career choice and suitability? Tell me about it....I finally found the one niche in law that I actually like (the others, can't stand at all) but I really would have chosen better if I had thought about what I do, prefer, want, excel at and less about meeting the expectations of others and pleasing. Never again.

[HP van Duuren]

BTW What a great character is "HP"
don't you think? Oh.., yeah 'Harry Potter' is nice too :)

If I am informed well, I understand that J.K. wanted to create 'Instant Fame & Fortune' for Harry and got a little carried away by it, by herself becomming richer that the queen of England!

However I don't think that there really is such thing as 'failure', There only seem to be 'Results'.

Just as Edison said about discovering a 'zillion' way's how to NOT make a lamp.

All the Best,
To your Happy Inspiration,
HP

(Hans-Paul)

[InnerJoy Megan]

Wonderfully inspirational - thank you! There are days when I think I'd love to put every ounce of who I am into my passion, but then I put my shoes on and go to work instead. Maybe this quote will stick with me on one of those days and be the thing that changes all else!

[etavitom]

Thanks for sharing this wise quote from such an inspirational person. It's truly remarkable what she has created with her imagination, passion and vision.

[The Zen Dad]

very inspirational speak.
another one I particularly like is Steve Jobs' Stanford speak
please take a look at it here
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc
http://www.zendad.net

[Sharon]

I admire JK Rowling, for the way she's allowed herself to find her own happiness and follow her unique path. It's amazing what can happen when we just embrace our strengths and talents.

[gorgeousophie]

Thank you Gretchen! I adore Harry Potter and JKR's speech made me cry, she rocks! So do you by the way!;o)

[JuiceMag]

I've always admired JK! Her masterpiece (Harry Potter) rules the world but she, herself is even more IMPRESSIVE!

[Mary]

Here's a link to the text and video:
http://harvardmagazine.com/go/jkrowling.html