Fail Better Next Time

one action makes a reaction, a string of events

that we can likely never trace back to the source,

and even our victories can be dissected yet

still be left unresolved as to the roots they made.

inventions, creations, decisions, strategies—

all of them fall into the lines of success or not,

especially when the world tracks them so keenly

that the end result feels like the be-all, end-all.

but what always occurs without necessity is how

the losses make us quake so much more than

our greatest victory laps do, the trophies we wield,

all the prizes and rewards to gain and hold up.

they say one success follows a hundred failures,

and we can never truly judge ourselves accurately

because we’re too close to the situations,

the results far too personal of a matter.

so we must make peace with the times we lose,

the moments we stumble and fall, and all the days

when we can’t hold our heads high with pride—

because every win will follow a time we lost.

go forward then, and make your mistakes,

keep track if you would like, and take up

the posture of one who tries and tries—

who can fail and still rise up the next day

just to start again.