Walk Like a Baby
Last night I was watching my one year old toddle around our house. She was trying new skills: stopping and balancing, bending down and standing back up, turning around — and each time she tried a new skill she would immediately fall on her butt.
At first, I wanted to stop every fall. I was afraid if she kept falling, she would stop trying. My four year old does that. When she can’t do something within the first two times, she often gives up in despair. It takes me weeks to convince her to try it again (and I’m not allowed to watch when she does).
But the baby was undeterred. She would squat down, and boop — fall right on her butt. She let out a frustrated yell and got right back up. She tried it again. And again. And again. She didn’t care how many times she failed. She was determined. And eventually, she succeeded.
I remembered that my four year old used to be like that. I was probably like that. Somewhere along the line we learn that failing is a bad thing. We learn that we should be embarrassed by it. Despite my best attempts otherwise, my four year old fell into this mindset as well.
But failing is what undoubtedly happens when we learn. With each failure, we learn something new. We try again.
I’m trying to make money with my writing, and right now I’m failing. But I will keep writing, and keep submitting my work.
If there is something you are trying to do right now, and it’s not working out — keep failing. Keep trying. One day, you’ll be able to do all those things you couldn’t before, and you may not even remember how frustrating those first steps were.
