The Fear of Failure

I will begin with Surviving in the World Tip: #1.

This first tip has to do with one of the gushing horrors of the world. The big, bad, crushing, coercive, evils that make us run in fear. FAILURE (Queue the screeching violins, and meandering piano progressions from every horror film). So many of us are afraid to do something, and are scared to be ourselves, because we can’t bear to look failure in the eyes and say F*** you... FREE you, duh! What, did you think I was saying the f-word?

We must free failure from the grips of our biased, and confusing minds. We look at failure like a foe, because our brains are hardwired to keep away from things that could potentially harm us. In the past, failure meant life or death, and so that fear has stuck with us.

In an age where the safety net of society cradles us like a young newborn, the chance that failure is going to kill us has been increasingly minimized. We need to start putting ourselves out there. As Will Smith said, the best things in life are on the other side of fear. This doesn’t just apply to the perilous act of skydiving, and being an adrenaline junky, it refers to everything in your life.

If you’re like me—a quiet introvert, who loves to overthink, and uses every implausible outcome as a reason not to do something, then you might shiver just as I used to at such a word.

Will I get rejected?

Will I do this wrong?

Will EVERYONE hate it?

I'm here to tell you a secret. We are a bunch of tiny people, on a tiny rock, around a tiny sun, in a tiny galaxy, in the seemingly infinite expanse of the universe. We don't matter, and I beg of you this one thing: don't take that as a sign of fear. Let it free you from failure, and let it free failure from you! We don't even know with any perfect accuracy where we are even from, so why should we allow ourselves to be constricted by the grips of failure. That may be a fallacious way of thinking, but hey, it works for me!

I could be writing the worst post right now. Nay, I am definitely writing the worst post right now, and I don't care! I don't care, because I am failing at something I WANT to do, and that is enough to get me through with a smile on my face.

Just remember this—Failure is still a success, because it means you tried something new. Failure is not our enemy, it is a friend—it is your best friend. It will always be there, whether you are crawling around in your lowest valley, or soaring in your highest sky. Go try something new, something you want to do, and I promise it will pay off sooner or later. You just need that first step.

Since it will always be there, you just have to lean into the hit. Here’s another secret. You can succeed at failing. Insane, you say? It’s really not. If you become a failure aficionado, you can make sure you never make the same mistake again. Then you can start to succeed at succeeding.

The last part of this I would like to add is two-fold: First off, I would like to say that if you don’t follow your heart, and do what you want to do, then you just fail at something you don’t even like. What’s the point? By avoiding a mistake that lies in chasing a passion, you do not avoid mistakes altogether, because they are always there no matter what you do.

Lastly, you are worth it!!! Your dreams, your passions, and your love for life are all important enough to take a risk in this world. So go on. Do that thing you are too afraid to do. Ask that girl or guy out on a date. Chase that dream you’ve been shying away from. BE YOU, YOU ARE WORTH IT!!!