The First Failure

Today I just wrote up my check-in for 2014-12-22, and in it I logged my first failure under the physical category.

I thought for a while about trying to come up with a different word for it. "Failure" is so harsh, when all I'm really trying to flag is that I should have gotten more exercise--or rather, that if I'd gotten more exercise, I would have enjoyed my day a little more.

But to paraphrase Willy Wiggle-Stick, what value is there in changing the word? Would a failure, by any other name, feel less shameful? Maybe I could call it an "area for improvement", but everything is an area for improvement. Nothing we do is perfect. Also, inside I'd know that "area for improvement" really just means "failure".

So let's call a katana a sword. It was a failure. And the way I deal with that failure is by having a mature and sensible relationship with failure--not something I've traditionally been good at. Normally, I view failure as something to be ashamed of.

But recently, I've seen the power of failure. I've seen design teams who used failure as a construction tool: by testing and iterating on different designs, they incrementally improved until they created an award-winning product. I've started to incorporate failure in to my writing; by accepting that my first draft will very likely suck, I find it easier to write that crappy first draft, which is a necessary step in improving it until it becomes better writing.

Even writing this blog, I'm accepting the fact that many of my posts are too wordy, not funny enough, and lacking in accurate and properly sourced data.

So I'm actually feeling pretty good about this fail rating. Because I knew that I needed to get more exercise, I made a point of doing yoga this morning. And it felt good. And anything that makes life a little more fun is worth doing.

So bring on the fail.