Every time I fail at something, I always get a little giddy from excitement.
I know, that seems outrageous, let me explain:
When we are young, we are conditioned against failure. "Succeed, and that's all you'll ever need" was a mantra thrown around my early surroundings in several different manifestations and iterations. It made sense, after all; good grades, good college admission, good degree, good job, good income, good assets, good life. It had become this linear thinking that was ingrained into my mind. I couldn't, though.
I would study for hours and wouldn't make As. I'd practice a skill for hours and only get marginally better. I'd try to better myself, and it would take a lot of time with little result. THIS WAS INFURIATING. I went on like this for many years until about high school. In high school I picked up the weight lifting routine (my weights I lifted weren't heavy in the slightest), but hey, it was the effort that counted, right? It was there, in the temple of iron that I had my greatest revelation. Failure was the beginning.
I would see people come in every single day, no matter the height or weight, chasing one thing: failure. Why? There was the end of their human limit, and that's where their work began. The gym rats knew they would drive their bodies to the point of physical exhaust, and almost masochistically attempt to push further than that. This is how the body grows and adapts.
We all see that instagram caption
"Develop from the negatives", this is the fundamental human experience, I realized. Every human has a limit, and every human fails constantly at the point of their limit. It's natural, it's human. Yet, it's our human responsibility to push and drive past those limitations to better myself. One shouldn't be dejected at the first sign of failure, One should rejoice. Every moment of failure is a moment one can better their skill sets, wealth of knowledge, and understanding of the world! I quickly adopted this perspective and life has never been the same.
I went on to vigorously pursue every artistic and academic adventure I could set out on: acting, dancing, music, singing, beat boxing, mixing, anthropology, linguistics, brain sciences, religious studies, and a critical love and passion for philosophy. I fail a lot, in my pursuit of these fields, and I couldn't be happier. After learning to welcome failure, and focusing on failure not as a element to shun, but an element to welcome and understand, I've seen unparalleled growth! Naturally, with growth, came success. This was what I was never taught, yet needed to learn. Fear not failure for the perceived stain on self-worth, rather, embrace it for the opportunity to gain qualities.
I will leave you, my fellow Steemians, with a quote
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”
― Maya Angelou
Go out and fail--from it, succeed.
If you have your own failures you'd like to share, let me know in the comments, I love hearing your stories and perspectives!