Fear of failure is normal. Who wants to fail? Fear of failure is adjacent to fear of the unknown. Both lend themselves to the voices in our heads and our mental movies running amok with projections of worst possible scenarios.
“To err is human, to forgive divine”
I genuinely couldn’t guess the number of mistakes I’ve made in my life.
I genuinely wouldn’t want to keep a running tally for more than an hour.
Humans are imperfect. All of us. No exceptions. Even the exceptional ones are flawed.
Forgiving ourselves, and forgiving others for making mistakes and repeating mistakes is divine because that is extraordinarily exceptional. Why?
In the time before curated social media feeds and visual filters, we would project our self hatred for our failures onto the failures of other people. Now, in a world where people who are able to fake perfection professionally on social media are increasingly rewarded and lionized, there is an extra layer of shame added to failure.
Failure is normal. Failure is the standard. If we succeeded at everything we tried all the time the world we live in would be truly unrecognizable. We need to try, fail, learn and try again on never ending cycles. We don’t stop trying and failing until we die.
To err is human.
We are all going to die. We are all going to fail. Everything is going to change.
It’s hard to constantly try and fail. We are human after all. So of course thoughts and emotions come into the mix. Our thoughts and emotions and perceptions make us human.
Failing a lot and repeated the same mistakes?! Oh boy, I know that combo. I’d rather have the combo that involves a burger and fries.
To err is human.
Empathy, compassion, understanding are constantly needed for ourselves and others. How much negativity comes from the perceptions and emotions surrounding failure?
Failing in front of other people?! Eek, been there. Failing in front of other people was already a cruel enough fate before the possibility of all bystanders having a high definition camera in the palm of their hand pointed in your direction.
Forgiveness, acceptance, patience, perspective are needed as much as the internal desire to check our feeds and doom scroll. Love and gratitude go well here too, but they go well everywhere every time for everyone.
To err is human.
It would be nice if things went according to plan. That’s why when they do we celebrate and feel so good. Because it’s so special when it actually happens. Success is so extraordinary that it is universally cause for celebration whenever it happens at every level of life. That’s why the concept of the treat was invented.
But life is hard by default and failure is the default result of action and effort. Ease and success don’t go hand in hand. Not in real life or in the media. All the best movies, shows, video games, and songs involve struggle or hardship at least at first.
To err is human.
It’s why we try hard but are then soft and easy on how we treat ourselves and other people. The hard and complex are for the actions and the things. Work hard, then take it easy. Don’t neglect either and don’t confuse one for the other. Easier said that done, but what isn’t?
To err is human.
Anarchy Journal Constitutional 