Guest Post: G. Orozco
"It is better to fail aiming high, then to succeed aiming low. Set your sights so high, in fact, that even failure will have in it an echo of glory." - Bill Nicholson
Failure and what it means for some.
As humans, only our successes are remembered. When you jog your memory for failures it’s something, for most that is tucked away in the corners of our minds. When we fail we experience that moment of defeat & despair. We disappointed ourselves and anyone/anything that was relying on our success.
Failure for me is not something celebrated. It is something looked at in disgust and never want to face again. I even try to avoid it by setting low standards for myself. This in turn, is totally not promoting growth within my own capacity for true greatness.
My own failure has never been something I’ve liked to embellish. It’s an uncomfortable space that I will try to navigate through as quickly as possible. Whether it is a failure within my own expectations, or someone I’ve failed, I don’t like it. However what does it do? At a weak point it breaks me down; beginning a spiral effect forcing me look at all the other suffering aspects in my life and makes me even more unhappy. It creates this negative canvas and spiral into self-loathing. Negative Nancy thoughts and pouty banter ensue. No matter what I do or try not to do, failure will happen at some point. It's inevitable. The universe does not let one drive a course of constant success. A mishap will eventually arise.
Life is not perfect. So stop trying to be.
Failure instead, should promote a canvas for improvement. Showing one's fault line. Exposing mistakes and misfortune. Creating opportunity for improvement. Making one push for the better. Even if you never thought you would fail at something, you might. If you haven't failed just yet, you may. Knowing this makes failure look like perfection. The hardest part is to look at failure in the face for what it is, accept it and learn from it. Accept that I'm not perfect, but a mistake will lead you back on your path if you look in the right direction.