Failing Is Good

Ever fail at something? I mean really, really badly?
Wasn’t it great?
Seriously, after all the dust settled, and you picked up the pieces and got on with your life, (and maybe worked though a few other clichés) didn’t you feel pretty good?

Everyone fears failure. We don’t want to be a loser or a screw-up. We want to be good at what we do, not a laughingstock.
Look around your life. You likely know someone who won’t try anything because s/he might not be good at it.
I had a friend like that years ago. Talked a good game but wouldn’t do much because she was terrified she wouldn’t be perfect at it. She couldn’t get it through her head that no one was perfect at anything, but that’s not my point.

Figuring you have to be good at something, anything, first time out is absurd. Practice makes perfect although no one is perfect. We’re human. Everybody’s practicing.
So here’s some free advice. Get out and be lousy at something. Really stink the place out. Be the worst you can be.

What have you always a wanted to do? With me it was play guitar.
I come from a musical family on dad’s side. I got my talent from my mom’s side. I own a very good guitar and some simple songbooks. In fact some are so simple the name of the note is written within its symbol. I’m pleased to say that’s more than I require. But not much more.
My fingers remember the notes in the first position although I have to stop and think about low E, F, and G.
I’m not tone deaf though I do have a very high tolerance for missteps. I can play that lovely guitar when it’s out of tune and it doesn’t bother me. However, it has gotten so bad that even I could tell it needed adjusting.

It’s a gross overstatement to say that I failed. I learned to read music and to play simple melodies. I can even do a passable rendition of the opening of Marty Robbins’ El Paso because I taught myself to read simple tablature.
However, it’s an even grosser overstatement to say I’ve succeeded. I cannot tell a note just by listening. I do not remember how songs go; I have to have the music in front of me.
My husband can play violin by ear and guitar too, to an extent. He will say things to me like go higher, meaning, I suppose, to go higher on the scale. I cannot reason out how to do that.

I’ve tried. I have failed. It’s great.

Now, get out there and fail at something today so you can enjoy it later.