Reflection: The Art of Failure

Swallowing your pride isn't easy. You think you have everything figured out, and then all of a sudden life crashes over you like a wave, consuming each and every morsel of your being until each piece finds it way back to shore. How can one fail gracefully? The answer to a question like that feels pretty elusive. I've spent an enormous amount of energy trying to protect and shield myself from the vitriol of failure, but time and time again I'm reminded that you cannot escape from something that's an inherent part of the human experience. To be hopelessly and completely human means to feel everything, even the feelings you're trying not to feel. I wonder what it's like to fail without attachment, but the existence of failure in and of itself is the consequence of attachment. Our attachment to our outcomes is what created this divisiveness in the first place; something is either "good" or "bad", but what if most things were neutral? Maybe it isn't the end of the world when I misspell a word, or I forget to match my socks. Resistance to failure is what dissolves our potential. It's being fearless in the face of failure that allows us to draw closer to the fire inside of us - fear should not be the fuel for our inner fire. I don't want to silence my true self because I'm scared of failing. I want to open my arms to failure despite how uncomfortable it makes me feel. I rather live in discomfort than live a life devoid of risk. There's an art to it, an art that I have yet to master.