Failing in Life Isn't Failure at Life

No one likes failing. Obviously, it does not leave one with a warm, sticky, happy feeling.
Yet, sometimes it is a necessity. Well... I guess I should add a little caveat to that. It is a necessity if you're actually trying to do stuff.

In the case of people who have big ideas, it's not always paired up with follow-through.  And maybe even if there's some follow-through, then there is a huge tendency to hide behind trying to perfect something. That's a big bottleneck right there, lots of ideas just don't see fruition beyond that because, well we're scared when things aren't perfect. Or afraid that it won't do well. Sometimes you can research and plan out something, spending lots of time trying to get it just right, and it still never be quite right.

That's not to say we shouldn't plan things out and work hard to put out a good product/service/whatever it is. But we have to realize that even things that are well-planned out and seem really great on paper can fail sometimes. There's so many variables and any number of reasons things could fail -- anything from timing, audience, product itself, demand, etc.

But that's where a failure can turn into an opportunity.

In 2012, I resolved this much:
Risk failure in order to realize dreams.

There were a lot of wonderful things about 2012. I think in part my attitude about things really brought that about for myself. Once I became a little more willing to put myself out there and try out new things, and stand my ground on them, it felt like a light bulb clicked. I worried about a lot less trivial stuff, the things I did, I did because I wanted to do them and I really found purpose in what I did, in all aspects of life, not just work. That's why even now, regardless of what all has happened in my life recently, I am happy with my part in my life. I think I've been living with kindness, love and integrity, and yeah, maybe it hasn't panned out in some areas of my life the way I may have hoped, but that's an opportunity to try and make my way through the world again.

It's ok to fail at something, so long as you don't keep failing the same way and you take something away from it that will help you tweak things the next time. Failing at something can just be seen as a setback, it doesn't have to be an identifier for who you are.

I remember at the beginning of the year being asked if I could change anything in my past, would I. First of all, that's kind of a loaded question -- we can't, and even if we could, who knows what all you would alter. I thought about it though, and while yes there are things I have done that I regret, people I could've dated, people I could've avoided, tests I could've studied harder for, stocks I should've loaded up on... any number of things I could have done -- I decided no. There's not too much I would change... and that's not because I'm some kind of narcissist. I'm not perfect -- no one is. But I think about how much I know now... I feel like everything in my life has led me to the people I have loved and lost -- friends, family, loves. My choices, my heartbreaks, my regrets. Everything. And when we’re together, my past seems worth it. Because if I had done one thing differently, I might have never met them.

I think failing in certain things was an asset, because it spurs me to do better. And as a result, I don't think I am a failure at life. It is just a temporary set back, and I still want to do some pretty awesome things.

Not every aspect of my life is in perfect order. And that's ok. I still love my life. I'll keep the parts that are working for me, and just fine-tune the parts that didn't and keep going.