Question of the Day - "What If Failure Were Optional?"
Knowing beforehand that you wouldn't fail, what would you attempt to do?
I really like this question, so I decided to sit here and try to think of a good answer for it, but I can't. If you've been reading me a while, you know that pretty much the one thing I truly consider myself to be afraid of is failure, yet although I can think of plenty of instances where I was afraid I would fail at something because it was just that important to me, I can't actually recall a time when fear of failure actually stopped me from eventually trying to do it anyway. It may take me a while to build up the nerve, but I always try sooner or later.
Maybe I really am the stubborn ass my birth chart says I am, or maybe my over-sized ego really does inwardly insist that I'm entitled to absolutely anything in life that I want, so long as I'm willing to earn it. All I know is that whatever the reason, I've at least attempted to make every dream I've ever had into a reality at some point in my lifetime, and that even where things didn't work out as planned, I have yet to actually give up trying altogether.
I'm sure it probably helps that I have a real listening problem when it comes to criticism from other people. I may consider it if it comes from someone that actually knows what they're talking about, but other people's criticism has never lowered my own opinion of myself or stopped me from trying to achieve goals that are important to me. I never have, and never will, let anyone or anything stand in the way of being the person I want to be, so the day I actually learn to take "no" for an answer is pretty much the day I die.
The older I get, the more I think failure is a relative term. It probably means something different to everyone, but after giving it some thought, this is what it really means to me. In my opinion, the only true failure is in either not trying at all, or in giving up. There's always another avenue to try or another option yet to consider, so when it really matters -- at least if you subscribe to the Shannon Hilson School of Thought -- failure really is optional.
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