Failure Isn’t The Universe Laughing At You For Your Efforts.
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I think everyone, on some level, knows what it is to fail.
To walk the tightrope of the unknown, risky, potentially detrimental choice is a brave thing to do, in my opinion, because both reward and rejection could be great. Walking the rope is like a sucker punch to fear.
I genuinely believe that failure is the most valuable thing any of us can experience. It’s a shot of humility and a new learning experience. Failure kicks your ass like nothing else, but it is guaranteed to elicit strong emotions and get a fire in your belly, which is exactly what you need to chase passion.
Failing isn’t the end of the world. This is something I wish someone had told me when I was in school, because I lost sleep and stressed out a ridiculous amount in order to succeed (be able to pass exams and get good grades on essays).
If you screw up one thing in your life, nothing’s going to come crashing down on you. There isn’t this moment where all the doors to opportunity slam shut in your face. Failure says, Up your game and try again. It’s not an opportunity to lie back and take a beating. Instead, it’s a roadblock.
Grab a spear in your hands, gain some momentum, and bust it down.
I’ve beaten my head against failure a lot over the years. I hated being wrong, not getting as good a grade as I could have, not being good at something. There comes a point when I can’t becomes the (poisonous) mantra in your head, you fail so much.
Stab that inner voice in the throat with a hot skewer, let it die (and stay dead) and get back up.
Failure is a tool. It tells us exactly where we’re going wrong, which is a gift we don’t get often. Instead of slinking away in shame from something we fail at, we should run at it, headfirst, and improve on our weaknesses. If you’re impatient (like me), work on becoming more patient, so next time you don’t ruin your mood.
If you aren’t incredible at this or that skill yet, work at it until you are. This is what failure gives us: opportunity. Every time I forget that, I get dragged into a quagmire of self-hatred and bad feeling.
I must remember that failure isn’t the Universe laughing at me for my efforts. It’s nudging me in the right direction, saying Keep going, improve yourself in this area. I don’t know about you, but if I’m told I’m right or good all the time, I can get a bit complacent. At which point, right on cue, I fail.
The cosmic ass-kicking is exactly what I need in the moment to remember I have work to do and to keep putting effort in.
There are benefits to failure if you look for them. In the moment, it hurts like hell but I find you always, always learn something new about yourself afterward. You develop a thick skin and a difficult-to-deter attitude, a resilience that comes across in all areas of life, leading to failing better than before and ultimately succeeding.
This year, I hope I discover new things about myself by going through the rough patches we all experience. I hope I learn. May failure be my guide.
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Josephine Hicks is a poet living her best life and listening to the call of the Universe for her purpose. She longs for a questing existence. Challenge is something she embraces (after digging her heels in a little…) and she is a fighter at heart. She loves love. Unable to settle for long, she is an adventurer. She wants to honor those who are the best at what they do. Fearlessness is her aspiration, and nature is her teacher. You could contact her via her website.
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