Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. ~ Winston Churchill
Many of us avoid firsts. We avoid the challenge associated with change, we cling to the familiar. Psychologists use the term homeostasis to describe the state of emotional equilibrium we prefer. We refuse to budge even from destructive circumstances to avoid the insecurity of the unknown.
We fear potential humiliation, the possibility of exposure, more than our present pain.
Why? Because we remember what it felt like to fail.
First Day Fail
My first day of third grade, new school, new town, new state. I was the last to finish my assigned essay, “What I did during my summer vacation.” I was slower than the rest because, as Kenny, the boy seated next to me, loudly informed the teacher, I was not writing in cursive! I stared at my paper in misery–in the clash of curriculums I hadn’t yet learned how to not print.
Trust me, I went home and taught myself; public shame is a powerful motivator.
An eight year old can’t avoid those tough moments. The decision to move to a strange, new community a continent away was not mine to make. But as an adult I have moved, have stepped into new settings, and it is always the same. In a new place, attempting a new task, you cannot know what you don’t know. And the Kenny’s of the world will always be there.
But failure is not the end, it is a sign post to the better end God has in mind. I learned two important lessons that first day of third grade:
- I can teach myself.
- I can survive criticism.
I’d call that a successful first day.
What have you learned from failure?
Image credit jenswessling at flickr
