Failure Is An Option

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.”

~ J.K. Rowling

I discovered this quote while "paroozing" through Facebook statuses today. Thank you for posting this Facebook Friend of mine :D. 

This topic--Failure--has sporadically popped up throughout the day and it got me thinking, "Why fear failure, when, like death, is inevitable in life?" 

This didn't become apparent to me until my recent go at playing Mario DDR on the Gamecube. 

Today marks the 7-month anniversary of my daughter's birthday (Happy 7 Month-aversary, Zelda--I love you!). I now truly understand just how difficult it is lose the baby weight you gained during pregnancy--It's not so easy :(. I have been trying these past 7-months to lose what I gained, but I have not yet proved to be successful. My sweet mother-in-law purchased Mario DDR (which stands for "Dance Dance Revolution") so that I could lose weight, stay with the baby, and have fun all in the same package. Let me tell you, if you stick with it, you can break a sweat; but my problem is sticking with it.

The game is simple. Dance your way through by coordinating your feet with arrows as they appear on the screen.

                     

As you progress through the game, the level of difficulty increases which means more arrows--a lot more arrows--to follow. It can get tricky. 

Often times, I have a tendency to refrain from doing something due to fear of failure; either that or I stop from failing completely in the long run. It's rather frustrating. 

My husband, who has deemed himself my "DDR Coach." Has been truly supportive. In today's session, there was a level that I became infuriated with because my feet couldn't follow the teeming flow of arrows and I was losing. In frustration, I jumped off the dance mat, said that I couldn't do it, and ultimately failed the level. I didn't want to continue because I was afraid of doing poorly and I was angry with my self for not doing better. 

I'm truly blessed to have such an amazing husband. He told me that I failed because I jumped off the mat prematurely instead of pushing through. Thinking negatively caused me to fail and I couldn't excel because I told myself I couldn't. I had to keep pushing myself to do better.

Failure is an option, but that doesn't mean that we have to choose or accept it. You can't get better at something unless you press on and push yourself to do better. It's like J.K. Rowling said (summed up), step outside your boundaries, live a little, and don't be afraid to try; otherwise, you've already failed. 

      To Ryan: I love you and thank you for being an inspiration. Thank you for telling me that failure can't take place unless I allow it to. Thank you for being my stronghold.