I had a flu this week that took wind out of every sail in my body/soul/spirit, and am struggling really hard to get back from it. At such times feelings of being useless and a failure are ripe to strike like a virus too. When I get just the tiniest bit of mental energy back I’ll have to fight it, but for now I just have to acknowledge the feeling of being knocked down in the fight.
Both of these concepts are so completely subjective. Probably every single person has a different sense of each of them. I wonder if the concept of failure should be eradicated from the psyche. There is really only learning, figuring things out, getting wiser and developing richer character from any experience. But maybe that is pie in the sky thinking. Maybe failure is a harsh reality that happens; it sucks, it hurts, it can kill, and there you go. There it is. Reality.
Then again maybe success is the ability to never acknowledge failure.
Doctortayria's Blog 
May 1, 2010 at 11:16 am |
Mama and I both think you are high on our list of successes and hope you feel better soon.
May 2, 2010 at 3:12 pm |
Hope you continue to feel better–the flu is horrid. I like your commentary on failure–I’ve been thinking a lot about this concept myself lately. It’s hard sometimes to take failure as a learning opportunity but that’s what I always try to do after the strum and drang of my initial upset is over. If I can learn from my “failures,” then I will continue trying to succeed, perhaps with a different approach but still continuously trying. Also, many things that seem like failures at first later become realizations that our limited idea of success can hamper us just as much as our fear of failure.
May 2, 2010 at 8:05 pm |
Thanks Karin, well said. I think in my heart of hearts I don’t believe in failure at all, I think there is only learning. But there is a cynic in me that takes over and demands to be heard sometime. Ah well, everyone has a point of view – even our multiple personalities! Sheesh!
May 2, 2010 at 9:46 pm |
My multiple personalities argue amongst themselves so loudly sometimes that I put on music to drown them out.