Failing
Ever failed?
Good.
If you've never failed, you've not lived.
Failure comes to us all at some time in our lives. It could be a large failure, a small failure or something massive. Whichever it is, we will live with the consequences. Oftentimes, so will others.
Last month I failed to do my post for this blog. Not a massive failure, but it was still a failure. I've had other, much bigger failures.
I was once a member of a writing group that set a goal to publish novels every year. We managed for two straight years, but one member decided that they weren't the centre of attention and decided they would act like a seagull. Screech, flap about and make a mess everywhere. With no backup from the other members in the group when facing this person down, I left.
This was a group failure, but I was part of that failure because we allowed someone to get their way and ruin what we had achieved. We'd even been approached by one publisher. (It's the origin of the starfishpc website in case you're interested)
What I learned from that experience has helped me to continue writing and publishing, albeit to a much smaller degree. It's one reason I would like to work with other unpublished and semi-published authors. Sharing the burden makes the process much easier.
There are other failures.
I've written stories and articles that will never see the light of day. Said things in public that I really wish I could erase. Started jobs that were a waste of time, made journeys that ended up in frustration.
From them I know things I'm good at, bad at or okay at. I can play the guitar after a fashion (and the recorder, piano and violin) but I'm not good enough to perform professionally. I can write and people will pay for it. I'm also good at training others, which is one part of my I.T. job.
Other lessons include being creative when finding a solution, knowing when to walk away from bad people and (almost) when to keep my mouth shut.
Failure is hard. But it doesn't have to be the end of everything.
Good.
If you've never failed, you've not lived.
Failure comes to us all at some time in our lives. It could be a large failure, a small failure or something massive. Whichever it is, we will live with the consequences. Oftentimes, so will others.
Last month I failed to do my post for this blog. Not a massive failure, but it was still a failure. I've had other, much bigger failures.
I was once a member of a writing group that set a goal to publish novels every year. We managed for two straight years, but one member decided that they weren't the centre of attention and decided they would act like a seagull. Screech, flap about and make a mess everywhere. With no backup from the other members in the group when facing this person down, I left.
This was a group failure, but I was part of that failure because we allowed someone to get their way and ruin what we had achieved. We'd even been approached by one publisher. (It's the origin of the starfishpc website in case you're interested)
What I learned from that experience has helped me to continue writing and publishing, albeit to a much smaller degree. It's one reason I would like to work with other unpublished and semi-published authors. Sharing the burden makes the process much easier.
There are other failures.
I've written stories and articles that will never see the light of day. Said things in public that I really wish I could erase. Started jobs that were a waste of time, made journeys that ended up in frustration.
From them I know things I'm good at, bad at or okay at. I can play the guitar after a fashion (and the recorder, piano and violin) but I'm not good enough to perform professionally. I can write and people will pay for it. I'm also good at training others, which is one part of my I.T. job.
Other lessons include being creative when finding a solution, knowing when to walk away from bad people and (almost) when to keep my mouth shut.
Failure is hard. But it doesn't have to be the end of everything.
Needed this encouragement today Martin, thank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Martin. Profound and a much needed relief to hear this.
ReplyDeleteThanks you for this article, which I had saved and only read this morning. Failure - all my life I was given to believe that was me. Now I wonder if I fail in ways unknown to me or differently. And how would one know.
ReplyDeleteI've had this article on my desktop for ages. Today I was curious to read it. I have written 100's of poems but never had any published. I don't even submit them anywhere, even though I know they are good. I think I put myself in failure status. I was told I would never succeed at anything, which of course is a dreadful think to prophecy over anyone. I know there are things I am good at, but thank you for this article. It's good to know someone else admits to failing sometimes.
ReplyDelete