Brace for Failure.

I always see these motivational pictures floating around on Facebook and Pinterest (they likely exist on Twitter and Tumblr too... I knoweth not.) that say something like, "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?"

ohhh... jazzzzzzy.

So a fairy plops down in front of you, taps you with her twinkling wand of perfection, and you can't fail. Well, what would you do? If  it were me, and I was somehow immune to entropy, you know what I'd do? I'd start some random company that I never have to touch again, and do nothing really important. I'd ride my bike, and I'd hang out beside my backyard swimming pool and drink little cocktails with umbrellas all day, and hang out with my husband and boy. The inability to fail wouldn't entice me to greatness. Frankly, the whole bit about not failing sounds like happy hyperbole.

Let's flip a table here, like a drunk girl in a restaurant. (You know who you are!)

What would you undertake if you knew you would fail at everything?

Freedom from failure, entropy, suffering... not inspiring. But what if you knew that no matter what you did, you'd fail? Because, generally speaking, that's the reality we face. Would you lay there and not try anything? Or (OR!!) would you try everything, accepting failure as the inevitable result and enjoying the journey to failure? Would you try crazy, unbelievable, beautiful things? The things you always wanted to do? Would you be willing to fail beautifully, to drop your guard, and fall hard?

I get it... failure and suffering hurt. I talked about that the last time...

The big concept I'm aiming at here is that maybe all failure isn't bad? If we stop punishing ourselves for failure, we open doors to huge opportunities to change our lives, others lives, the world around us.