Life After Failure

This was Mark Sanford 4 years ago.

There he is. Confessing to being a cad. Notice his wife is not by his side. He is standing alone, as he should be, admitting to the world he is a failure as a husband and father.

And here is Mark Sanford today.

Mr. Sanford will be running in May for a seat in Congress. Let's analyze this for a bit. I, in no way condone what he did in destroying his marriage and family. But there are some lessons to be learned here.

1. Once you fail, own up to your failings. Don't bother with the coverup, it just makes things worse
2. Apologize, apologize, apologize
3. Ask for forgiveness, but don't expect forgiveness overnight. 
4. Not everyone is going to forgive your failure. Or let you live it down. 
5. Reflect on what you have done and resolve to do better. 
6. Get back in the game. Mark Sanford could have rejected the calls to return to public life and stayed huddled in a corner somewhere. But he didn't. Now, he is on his way to an election that he will probably win, given the fact he just won his run-off election in one of the reddest of red states.

In summary, you will have failures in life. That happens. Not everyone will be forgiving. But learn from it, and move on. If you made it to the top before, you can get back there. Mark Sanford had an EPIC fail that was broadcast around the world 4 years ago. Today, he's one step closer to going to Congress. What's your excuse?

Update:
And the comeback is complete. Despite some setbacks during the campaign, Mr. Sanford is returning to Congress. Not everyone has the gumption to rebuild after such deep personal failings. But it can be done. Congratulations Mr. Sanford. You've got  your second chance. Don't screw it up.