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*read 'about the birds' AFTER you read the post J |
This morning I spotted the first two kids. One, feet dragging, head
down, spine bowed under the weight of a backpack. The other, step light, head
high, fingers clutching a single marble notebook. And so it begins.
No, it’s not the first day of school. Not exactly. It’s the
first day of SUMMER SCHOOL – which has always seemed to me to be infinitely worse
(I’m up here in NY, USA. Our middle schools and high schools
don’t have air conditioning. In fact, I’m not sure all the college buildings
do. But in any case, that’s why summer school is worse. It’s frickin’ HOT.
Plus, all your friends are at the beach while you sit through history class
again, and realize it’s even less interesting in the sunshine than it was in
the snow. But does the teacher care? No. Teacher thinks history is fascinating
in all weather, in all temperatures, in all ---)
Oops. I digressed there. Sorry. Back to my point.
Two students: one trudging, one striding. You don’t need to
be an expert – or even an amateur – at reading body language to be guess what’s
going on here. The trudging student is carrying her failure around like a boulder.
Whether she’s carrying it in front of her and can’t see where she’s going, or
carrying it on her back and being bent and slowed by it, her failure is a
negative that she’s suffering. The strider, though, has decided not to let her
failure slow her down. This doesn’t mean she’s in denial or doesn’t care, mind
you. It means she’s chosen to work past her failure and seek success.
In other words: if at first you don’t succeed… J
Think about it. Failure is normal, it’s natural. Whether it
means you got an F on your history test, failed your road test, or got a letter
of rejection from your dream agent/editor/publisher, failure means you’re
living your life. You’re trying things. You’re taking exciting chances. (Well,
for those of you that find history exciting anyway. (C’mon, I know you’re out
there!)) So if failure is normal, and it’s going to happen from time to time as
long as you live, what’s the best way to approach it – or recover from it?
Get back out there and try again, right? Of course right.
But once you decide to give it another go (or the school system informs you
that you have no option) there’s another, more important choice to make. Will
you slog toward your next attempt with your head down and defeat on your mind?
Or will you stride toward your next attempt with your eye on the horizon and
success on your mind? See, it’s how we react to failure that makes the big
difference. You can’t let it rule you, define you, or limit you. Does this mean
you can’t bawl your eyes out when you fail your history final / road test /
agent pitch appointment? Absolutely not! I give you full permission to bawl
your eyes out, eat ice cream from the container, shout at the moon….for one
day. And then get on with your own personal plan for turning failure into
success.
This is life and life is hard. Failure is inevitable. And
for those who don’t let failure slow them down or define them, so is success.
Go get ‘em.
~Jen
*About the birds: First, how adorable are these little guys?
I love ‘em and keep ‘em on the shelf by my computer. Second, the little guy on the left
I bought last year. I got such a kick out of how pissed off and withdrawn he
looks…right up until I bought another bird this year and I realized I like this
year’s bird so much better. Now that you’ve read about failure and success, you’ll
know why I like this year’s better, and while I’ll be picking up more just like
it. You see it, don't you? The body language of success: Head high, eye on the horizon…)
6 comments:
I agree, Jen! It's all in the attitude. (Also, those birds are cute, even the sullen one.)
Love the birds and this post, Jen. And the thing about the positive bird is that it looks HOPEFUL...
Great advice, Jen. We all have challenges and failures but the big difference is how we deal with them.
Love this post, Jen and needed to hear it this week...let's just say reviews can be brutal. But my chin is up and I'm focused on the horizon!! :D
Great post Jen!
Excellent advice,Jen. I love failure! Well...I don't really LOVE it, but I certainly appreciate all it has to offer. Every failure in my life can be traced to my effort to try something challenging and can be directly linked to learning a great life lesson.
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