u/LittleMac1983

I think I've officially come to the realization, at 42 years old, and long into my journey depression, of two things, today:

1. I'm very quick (too quick) to label a mistake/mishap/error/blemish/blunder as failure. Everytime I miss a shot in an empty gym, every I make an editing mistake, every time I pack an order at work incorrectly or my attention wanes, or I forget someone's name, my brain perceives it as a "failure".

2. Accordingly, my brain and body believes that a mistake ("failure") is, pretty much, a character indictment. It's not, of course, but I've been sleep-walking through that feeling and emotion for years, now. Maybe even decades, if I'm being honest with myself.

Lots of people fail, lots of people make mistakes. Some people make big mistakes, some people make small mistakes. As part of one my favorite speeches ever, Denzel Washington once said, "If you don't fail, you're not even trying."

I'll admit that, for a long, long time, I've been afraid of failing. Failing at life, failing at being father, failing at being a husband, failing in school, failing in my career, and just generally labeling myself a failure. Hell, I've even verbalized it to a lot of people, too.

I'm not going to make some grand declaration about never failing again or never being annoyed upset about making a mistake ever again, because that's unrealistic.

But, I want to start, today, right now, on taking the first step towards accepting my mistakes/blunders/etc. and embodying the idea that they are not failures, they are opportunities to try again.