What Failing Too Many Times Taught Me
Failing is guaranteed — embracing it is optional.
If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special. — Jim Valvano
I have not had an uncomfortable life. There is no life-changing event behind me that I share and tell you how it helped me find life’s purpose. But just like everyone else, I have had my share of highs and lows. The highs have been high, and the lows have felt pretty darn low. And as a matter of fact, it hasn’t stopped, but I am thankful for that. What I write here are purely ramblings of a no-one who knows that sometimes we all just feel fu*%ing shitty.
Good times and bad times, highs and lows, ups and downs, it’s all part of life. We all laugh, we all cry, it is essential to realize that it happens to everyone. Everybody goes through it even if they don’t show it. But the most important thing to remember is that it happens for a good reason. Those lows are what make us who we are. We need those terrible times to help appreciate the good times.
Those first times hurt, and they hurt like a motherf*&#er. Remember the first time you lost, the first time you got your heartbroken, the first time you failed, or the first time you didn’t get what you truly wanted. We have all felt it, and we end up believing that the time will never pass, and the pain will last forever. We remember them clearly, but what we occasionally forget is that we bounce from those, and we come back stronger. We learn to pick ourselves up. Whether it is by ourselves, or with the help of friends and family, or due to something completely unknown — we get up, dust ourselves off, and move forward.
Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up. — Alfred (Batman Begins)
When you fail, it’s just your life giving you another opportunity to succeed. Failing is guaranteed, but embracing it is optional. Fail fast and often so that you have more moments to rise up and become stronger. Make a habit of it. Have the quick downs so you can have the quick ups that come along with them.
The highs, when they come, they feel so damn good. Relax and live those moments. Relish them for all their worth. Laugh, smile, and be happy. Be grateful for a beautiful day, for having your friends by your side, for having a family that loves you unconditionally. Because whether you like it or not, you will fall. But this time you will have been a bit wiser, a bit stronger, a bit more prepared from the last time. The successes don’t need to be significant.
Seldom are these moments of happiness embedded in the big, grand moments of our lives, rather happiness emerges from the small things that we usually take for granted or overlook in the constant struggle of life.
We all have the strength to handle whatever life throws at you. Cherish your highs and lows and all that they have to offer. Be grateful for all your experiences. Remember, life has its ups and downs. So when you are up, make sure to reach for the stars, and when you are down, don’t be afraid to feel the ground. You will get up again.
