In this straight-talking, inspirational view of failure, Marianna Caplan unmasks it for what it really is: She tells us how to meet failure on its own field, how to learn its twists and turns, its illusions and its realities. Only then, she advises, is one equipped to engage failure as a means of ultimate winning, and in a way that far exceeds our culturally-defined visions of success. This book offers a direct means of using failure for: profound self-understanding; increased compassion for self and others; significant spiritual development. Instead of speaking to where we should be, this book looks to our lives as they are now, realistically -- since everybody has experienced failure in big or small ways at some time or another in life. The book deals with a subject most people consider negative or depressing, but it is actually highly inspirational, giving us permission to find joy and contentment within failure.