Stoic in the Face of Failure
The writer Samuel Beckett once said, "ever tried, ever failed, no matter, try again, fail again, fail better." The truth is in life, we aren't going to get everything right. Failure is inevitable at times. I went to college to be an English teacher, guess what I'm not doing right now; teaching English. Due in part to circumstances beyond my control, and some within my control I was unable to finish even the second year of my bachelors degree. I still beat myself up over it sometimes, but like any failure, I have to learn to let it go.
We have to give ourselves permission to fail. I've been reading up on the principles of being stoic as of late. The root of stoic means to be free of reaction to stimuli that would elicit an emotional response, be it joy or sorrow for instance. While I may not subscribe to that whole concept, I feel there is something to take away from that as well. When we balance ourselves, we become more capable of handling both success and failure in equal measure.
One of the principles of being stoic, is the ablility to detach. When we set upon ourselves a goal, there are factors which we can control, and those we can not. The ultimate outcome of anything, is beyond our control. In any sports match, there are any number of factors that could result in a loss. Perhaps the environment that day was not ideal, say you succumb to an injury, or maybe your opponent(s) are just straight up better than you. Ultimately as a result of one of the aforementioned, you do not win. It wasn't your fault.
What we can control, is what we put in. If we go in having applied ourselves 100% to the task at hand, the success isn't in the endgame, but in our own growth and effort. If we, rather than attaching to the endgame, attach to the game itself, will find ourselves able to better cope with either outcome be it success or otherwise.
To rephrase, we do not have 100% control over our outcomes, but we do have complete control over what we put in. Detach from the former, and attach to the latter.
Honestly, I would love to just write full time. I don't have full control over whether that happens; I could lose the ability to write physically or otherwise, I may run out of ideas, or what I write may never take off. There's a term on the internet called viral (explodes in popularity over a short period of time), and there's no controlling what does and doesn't go viral, what can be controlled is creating the content.
My articles have ranged from as few as 20 views, to over 700 views; my average post garners roughly 30 views. I can't control how many people read what I write. All I can control is remaining consistent and pouring myself in to each piece. I may never achieve a full time writing career,and realistically I probably won't. At the end of it all, I won't feel that I've actually failed, even if I never reach that goal. We've all heard that Nike slogan, "Just Do It", so do it.
To wrap this up, as Beckett stated "...Try again, Fail again, Fail better". Don't let failure or fear of failure stop you from reaching out, and reaching up. Learn from our missteps, and keep moving forward. Fail again, but fail better. There's nothing wrong with failure; a failure can even be successful, if we gain something from it, even intangible things. Joy has no measuring stick, success has no measuring stick, failure has no measuring stick. Never stop, keep moving.
As for that Bachelor's Degree, I'm undecided if I'll go back and get it.
We have to give ourselves permission to fail. I've been reading up on the principles of being stoic as of late. The root of stoic means to be free of reaction to stimuli that would elicit an emotional response, be it joy or sorrow for instance. While I may not subscribe to that whole concept, I feel there is something to take away from that as well. When we balance ourselves, we become more capable of handling both success and failure in equal measure.
One of the principles of being stoic, is the ablility to detach. When we set upon ourselves a goal, there are factors which we can control, and those we can not. The ultimate outcome of anything, is beyond our control. In any sports match, there are any number of factors that could result in a loss. Perhaps the environment that day was not ideal, say you succumb to an injury, or maybe your opponent(s) are just straight up better than you. Ultimately as a result of one of the aforementioned, you do not win. It wasn't your fault.
What we can control, is what we put in. If we go in having applied ourselves 100% to the task at hand, the success isn't in the endgame, but in our own growth and effort. If we, rather than attaching to the endgame, attach to the game itself, will find ourselves able to better cope with either outcome be it success or otherwise.
To rephrase, we do not have 100% control over our outcomes, but we do have complete control over what we put in. Detach from the former, and attach to the latter.
Honestly, I would love to just write full time. I don't have full control over whether that happens; I could lose the ability to write physically or otherwise, I may run out of ideas, or what I write may never take off. There's a term on the internet called viral (explodes in popularity over a short period of time), and there's no controlling what does and doesn't go viral, what can be controlled is creating the content.
My articles have ranged from as few as 20 views, to over 700 views; my average post garners roughly 30 views. I can't control how many people read what I write. All I can control is remaining consistent and pouring myself in to each piece. I may never achieve a full time writing career,and realistically I probably won't. At the end of it all, I won't feel that I've actually failed, even if I never reach that goal. We've all heard that Nike slogan, "Just Do It", so do it.
To wrap this up, as Beckett stated "...Try again, Fail again, Fail better". Don't let failure or fear of failure stop you from reaching out, and reaching up. Learn from our missteps, and keep moving forward. Fail again, but fail better. There's nothing wrong with failure; a failure can even be successful, if we gain something from it, even intangible things. Joy has no measuring stick, success has no measuring stick, failure has no measuring stick. Never stop, keep moving.
As for that Bachelor's Degree, I'm undecided if I'll go back and get it.
Related Posts:
Inspired by an ArtofManliness article on Stoic tactics, read it here.
I always appreciate support for my writing, be it moral support, prayer, encouragement, or constructive criticism because I'm not perfect. If you would like to support this financially please visit my patreon here. If you find encouragement in anything I write, please let me know, I would love to hear from you.
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