A disturbance in The Force
Strange that over the past few days, several people have told me, in various ways and means, they think they've failed. Strange because I've been feeling a bit of a sense in which life could have been different if things had gone differently - if I hadn't failed at this or that critical juncture.
Now, not all of these failures that people have told me about are big ones. Some are - no, as a matter of fact, all of them are temporary setbacks of one kind or another. Some are minor failures in big endeavors, some are big failures in minor endeavors, most are middling failures in middling endeavors. Often things just don't work out the way we plan.
When so much goes wrong in such a short period of time, one begins to suspect a disturbance in The Force, some supernatural reason for the chips falling the wrong way for a lot of people all at once. I'm going to suggest something a little more radical.
I think so many of my friends are experiencing failure because they're on the right track. They're trying big things, or bigger things than they've attempted in a while. They're taking stock of their lives and deciding to do something more, something different.
When you do that, when you step out of your comfort zone, the first baby steps don't always go so well. This is the most dangerous time in the whole process - the temptation is to say, "Oh well, it didn't work this time, guess I'll just slip back into my comfort zone where everything works the way I expect, guess I'll just slip back into my rut."
Don't do that. Was it Edison who said he hadn't failed 100 times, he'd succeeded in finding 100 potential solutions that didn't work? Maybe that's over-the-top optimism, but the point is just because something didn't work this time, doesn't mean it won't work the next time you try - and at the very least you've discovered one not-so-good way of approaching the situation. Next time you try, you'll try it a little differently, or you'll try it the same but with a different level of effort. The point is to try. Or, as Yoda said so wisely, "Do, or do not. There is no try."
I feel a little like I'm trying to write a horoscope entry. I'm trying to encourage quite a few people in quite a few different situations in quite a few different ways - and myself at the same time - using the same words. What I'm trying to say is failure is just a little hiccup on the way to success. Nothing goes perfectly the first time you try it, and sometimes it doesn't go at all. The bottom line is it was worth trying. Next time it'll go better, and if you keep going back for a "next time," it's going to work. It's going to work, gorram it, just don't quit on yourself one day or one month or one year too soon.
Now get back up on that bicycle or that horse or in the water and do it.
Now, not all of these failures that people have told me about are big ones. Some are - no, as a matter of fact, all of them are temporary setbacks of one kind or another. Some are minor failures in big endeavors, some are big failures in minor endeavors, most are middling failures in middling endeavors. Often things just don't work out the way we plan.
When so much goes wrong in such a short period of time, one begins to suspect a disturbance in The Force, some supernatural reason for the chips falling the wrong way for a lot of people all at once. I'm going to suggest something a little more radical.
I think so many of my friends are experiencing failure because they're on the right track. They're trying big things, or bigger things than they've attempted in a while. They're taking stock of their lives and deciding to do something more, something different.
When you do that, when you step out of your comfort zone, the first baby steps don't always go so well. This is the most dangerous time in the whole process - the temptation is to say, "Oh well, it didn't work this time, guess I'll just slip back into my comfort zone where everything works the way I expect, guess I'll just slip back into my rut."
Don't do that. Was it Edison who said he hadn't failed 100 times, he'd succeeded in finding 100 potential solutions that didn't work? Maybe that's over-the-top optimism, but the point is just because something didn't work this time, doesn't mean it won't work the next time you try - and at the very least you've discovered one not-so-good way of approaching the situation. Next time you try, you'll try it a little differently, or you'll try it the same but with a different level of effort. The point is to try. Or, as Yoda said so wisely, "Do, or do not. There is no try."
I feel a little like I'm trying to write a horoscope entry. I'm trying to encourage quite a few people in quite a few different situations in quite a few different ways - and myself at the same time - using the same words. What I'm trying to say is failure is just a little hiccup on the way to success. Nothing goes perfectly the first time you try it, and sometimes it doesn't go at all. The bottom line is it was worth trying. Next time it'll go better, and if you keep going back for a "next time," it's going to work. It's going to work, gorram it, just don't quit on yourself one day or one month or one year too soon.
Now get back up on that bicycle or that horse or in the water and do it.
posted by B.W. Richardson at
1:24 AM
1 Comments:
Good advice but sometimes hard to follow. I had a spectacular failure a decade ago, a near total crash and burn, and I have yet to work up the nerve to give it another try. I was so filled with self doubt and recrimination that I am only now recovering my mojo.
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