I saw this over at DD's place and it reminded me of a post I've been meaning to write for a while. I hear it a lot, from my kids and many others who are younger than me, a vastly growing group!
It's when someone makes a mistake and people tease and mock them and say something like:
"a ha ha.....fail!"
The "culprit" then feels suitably embarrassed, crawls into a nearby hole and is never seen again. It was a long time ago but I'm sure that we didn't tease people with this particular word and strain when I was younger. And, by younger, I'm talking about people in their twenties as well as teens.
You see, I'm a believer in failure. I'm a fan of it. I reckon all great bands and musicians make mistakes when they play live, that it's their ability and musical greatness that enables them to get out of things seamlessly, so seamlessly that often it's only the artistes and not the audience who even know what's happened.
It's the way a band fucks up and gets out of it successfully that shows they've pushed the boundaries, made mistakes and learned from them in the past.
A and K now mock me when I say things like this
"Oh here goes Dad, 'mistakes are good, it means we're pushing ourselves' blah, blah, blah" are the kind of things they say.
But I mean it.
Repetitive mistakes are a bit crap though. We must learn and improve.
I used to have a friend who boasted that she was always right. At the time I admired her for it, thinking that I'd love to be an always right person. Twenty odd years later I feel entirely different. Always right signifies a person who isn't stretching themselves, who isn't trying new things and is always operating within their own circle of safety.
In my humble O it's far better to be a person who's sometimes wrong, though I'd prefer not to be always wrong!
So I challenge you. The next time you hear someone say something like "ha ha ha...epic fail" just ask them what's wrong with that. The next time you're about to tease someone for "failing" themselves, just pause and think on it.
Failure is good.
If you don't believe me ask Michael Jordan:
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2 weeks ago
6 comments:
have you heard the gen Y response to a failure...'my bad' :o)
The person who says they are always right are delusional. They also might be the loudest voice in the room and are most likely have low self-esteem. If you never let yourself fail, you are afraid to fail and that's bad.
Well said :)
The MJ quote, the Nike ad reference and actually the post was inspired by Shehan Kaurnatilaka's book, Chinaman, where the MJ quote was used.
Marc - Yes, I think that's more someone admitting to a mistake, saying it's their fault, which I'm ok with.
Charlene - I agree. Though there are a group who ARE always right, not delusional, just reluctant to push the boundaries.
TKRP - Thanks muchly!
DD - I so very nearly started to read that yesterday but went for something else instead!
I 've 'never' failed in school, but out on the street, on playground, yes. But that is the fun! I liked MJ's ad too! Thank you for the good words
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