I've taken Geoff's classes myself many times - partly because I love getting something for free (and he wouldn't dare charge me), but also because I like to be around those unafraid of chasing their dreams.

Geoff is frequently asked when he's going to teach his next class, and those who ask are usually quick to give their phone number or e-mail address so he can contact them with the dates. After he sends out announcements that class registration is open, he'll get his usual flurry of registrations, and then in the days leading up to the first class, a few will always decide to back out.

"I got scared," one admitted to me recently. "What if everyone else is so much better than me? What if my ideas are stupid?"

"But what if they're not?" I asked.

It didn't matter. She decided it was safer not to try at all than to risk trying and possibly fail.

I'm not sure I understand why some view failure as such a terrible thing. Not trying at all - that's bad. But isn't there something noble and admirable about trying and failing? Especially when the one who failed gets up and tries it again (and again).

Like most parents, I want my child to succeed. But unlike many parents, I don't want her success to come easily. If she gets to the top without a good, healthy struggle, it won't be anywhere near as satisfying or as valuable to her as it would if she works for every milestone she reaches.

Failure teaches and toughens. It reveals where the weak spots are, the places that need shoring up and improved (or removed). By not attempting, you aren't avoiding failure, you're avoiding success.

It's been interesting to watch how individuals and businesses across this country are reacting to the recession. We're in this period of readjustment, of trying to learn from and survive our failures. Some are simply giving up, closing their doors. It's too hard, too much work. They aren't up for the fight. But others are rallying, learning new skills, patching the holes in their finances and learning from their mistakes. When we get to the other side of all this, they're going to be so much stronger because of what they gained by how they reacted.

Last week, a list of America's billionaires was released, along with an analysis of their personality traits. The survey was trying to determine what the billionaires had in common. One of the things nearly all had experienced was failure. They had all tried something that failed, and many of those failures had been spectacular ones, costing them a great deal of money.

But every one of them also kept trying, allowing their failures to teach them things they never could've learned from success.

You don't move forward by crouching down and waiting for the bad times to pass, and you don't move closer to realizing your dream without taking that first step. Instead of riding the rut of the usual day-to-day drags on your time and energy, veer off the path every once in a while.

Any dream worth having is worth failing for.

Reach Karin Fuller at karinful...@cnpapers.com.