Failure, Rebranded
Things have been coming up short lately. Not going as anticipated.
It would be easy to sit in frustration, and consider a lot of the things I'm experiencing as failures in some way. And by some people's definition, it could absolutely be called failure. But I try not to see it that way. I think we need to rebrand the word failure. It has this heaviness and weight to it, and you immediately interpret it as negative. But instead, I've been retraining myself to thing of failure as information, redirection, and sometimes as a sign to take a step back and re-evaluate the situation before moving forward. Most importantly, I think failure is a sign that you tried.
I have so much admiration for people who put themselves out there, who are vulnerable, and who take the leap of faith. When they "fail," I always think to myself that it's incredible they even had the guts to try. I think most of us feel that way. And I think most of us love seeing the vulnerability of people who put themselves out there and take big risks. It is not easy, and many people don't even try. So why don't we give ourselves the same grace, when we face a "failure"?
I've also come to realize that the "failures" are often a huge part of our journey of where we're supposed to end up. That the failures are teaching us something that we may turn around and teach others. Sometimes a failure is redirecting us towards an even greater purpose than what we set out to do. But we have to open our minds to that possibility, instead of only viewing it in the narrow view of the current status.
Taylor Swift retreated to another country and laid low after major backlash involving some other celebs- I'm sure I don't need to rehash the details of that ;) But here's my point- Taylor in that moment experienced a major setback. And what did she do with her time of retreat and reflection? Made some killer songs about the experience and came out on top. Her pain fueled her. So much art comes from really difficult situations people face, as a way to process their pain.
Here's the other thing. If you're looking at your situation and defining yourself or your actions as failing because you're comparing yourself to someone else? Just don't :) I know, I know. It is SO much easier said than done. But as they say, comparison is the thief of joy. I actually say comparison is the thief of my peace, because that's how strongly I feel about it. When we look outside ourselves to see how we stack up, or we look for that external validation, we're going to set ourselves up for the real type of failure. None of us came here, to be exactly like anyone else. Our story, our traumas, our experiences, our setbacks, our opportunities- they're not like anyone else's. And we didn't all come here with the same purpose. Our world would be so much less interesting with a bunch of clones. We need to each put ourselves out there, and offer what only each of us can. I guarantee more people will admire you even if you "fail" than will judge you. And if they do judge you- chances are it's because they don't have the courage to be vulnerable themselves. They're actually jealous that they aren't following their own dreams. Those of us who put ourselves out there know just how hard and vulnerable it is. It's why we're more inclined to look in admiration at others who do the same. We know what they're putting themselves through to make their dream a reality. And I think there are few things more disheartening than seeing someone who is holding themselves back out of fear of failure. We only have this short time to do whatever we can dream up, and failing along the way is only a part of the journey to reach something beyond what we could even have dreamed off.
As I've said before- I write about the things I'm going through myself. Trying to teach others what I need to learn myself. So. Don't let failure hold you back. It's only one small piece of your journey. And hey, who doesn't wanna be more like Taylor?
Xo
