Day Eight: Failure
I looked at the clock today, after I had finished baking pumpkin pies and pumpkin bread (from scratch, and by "scratch" I mean "an actual real live pumpkin"), and a bolt of horror shook me.
It was 2am.
I had failed to post a Day Eight post.
I have failed my challenge.
I am a failure.
I briefly considered changing my name, dying my hair, and retreating to a life as a hermit, to escape the shame.
But the great thing about issuing your own challenges is, you get to determine the rules. So I'm deciding not to give up yet; as long as there is technically a post for each day, does it really matter whether I publish it at 11:59 vs. 12:01?
And yes, I realize that 3:20 is not quite the same fine distinction. But work with me here.
I hesitate to be that person who's always drawing parallels, but we all know I'm going to do it, so let's just get to it:
You make the rules of your own life. You get to decide what "succeeding" or "failing" look like. Way too often, people are quick to jump to failure- "Well, I can't get up every day at 6am and write for four hours like Writerly P. Autherton does it, so I can't be a writer." Or, "Well, Publishing Incorporated rejected my manuscript. I guess I wasn't meant to be a writer." Or, "Oh, I forgot to post on my blog today. I guess I wasn't meant to blog."
Sometimes failing is just quitting, in disguise.
Today, I challenge you to follow me on a quest to achieve the UnFail. Together we can commit to embracing failure, over and over, and being grateful for every time we mess up. Because if you think about it, everyone messes up at first. As you get better, you mess up less, right? So every mess you up is one mess up fewer between you and excellence.
A failure is just a set-back, until the moment you decide not to try again.
Anyway, enough maudlin, late-night sentimentality. I'm quitting now. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
It was 2am.
I had failed to post a Day Eight post.
I have failed my challenge.
I am a failure.
I briefly considered changing my name, dying my hair, and retreating to a life as a hermit, to escape the shame.
But the great thing about issuing your own challenges is, you get to determine the rules. So I'm deciding not to give up yet; as long as there is technically a post for each day, does it really matter whether I publish it at 11:59 vs. 12:01?
And yes, I realize that 3:20 is not quite the same fine distinction. But work with me here.
I hesitate to be that person who's always drawing parallels, but we all know I'm going to do it, so let's just get to it:
You make the rules of your own life. You get to decide what "succeeding" or "failing" look like. Way too often, people are quick to jump to failure- "Well, I can't get up every day at 6am and write for four hours like Writerly P. Autherton does it, so I can't be a writer." Or, "Well, Publishing Incorporated rejected my manuscript. I guess I wasn't meant to be a writer." Or, "Oh, I forgot to post on my blog today. I guess I wasn't meant to blog."
Sometimes failing is just quitting, in disguise.
Today, I challenge you to follow me on a quest to achieve the UnFail. Together we can commit to embracing failure, over and over, and being grateful for every time we mess up. Because if you think about it, everyone messes up at first. As you get better, you mess up less, right? So every mess you up is one mess up fewer between you and excellence.
A failure is just a set-back, until the moment you decide not to try again.
Anyway, enough maudlin, late-night sentimentality. I'm quitting now. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
This is insight that many people, much older than you, have never grasped. "Failure is just a set-back, until the moment you decide not to try again.", so true, and SO well said!
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