What if the concept of failure did not exist?
… is a question I’ve asked people who describe themselves as failures.
What if the concept of failure did not exist?
…. is the title of the shortest blog post I’ve ever written.
What if the concept of failure did not exist?
… was the first sentence I thought of when I woke up this morning.
Now I’ll ask you. What if the concept of failure did not exist? How would life be different?
No worries about how you answer that, if the concept of failure does not exist.
What if the concept of failure did not exist for each of these photos?
Speaking of concepts, here’s a clip from Robin Williams’s first album, “Reality: What a Concept!”
I’m including that performance titled “Shakespeare” for many reasons, including this: My son is trying out for a part in a play by Shakespeare — Henry IV, Part 1 — tonight.
What if the concept of failure did not exist about trying something new?
Conceptual thanks to all those who helped me create today’s post and to you — of course! — for successfully visiting here, today.
…..would there be such a thing as success?
Is it a failure to answer a question with a question?
You should know the answer to that 🙂
Thanks for the Robin Williams piece…I remember it well. ☺ I’m sure your reality today will be far from failure, Ann. ❤️
Now I feel like a success, Van! ❤
A world without fear would be a world without limits.
Thanks for this fearless, limitless comment, Miriam.
Ooo – I hope Aaron does well on his audition. Perhaps if there wasn’t the concept of failure, we would all just continually be having learning experiences until we succeeded. I like that idea much more! Have a day filled with rewarding learning experiences!!!!
I am having a day filled with valuable learning experiences like this comment, SD!
How did Aaron do with his audition?
I think the problem comes when people think of themselves as failures just because they have failed to do something.
Watching my son, who is an engineer, tackle a project or invention, I realize that with every significant project there are multiple failures along the way to success. Often, success appears unattainable but it is all those failures that allow you to understand the problems fully and overcome them. Sometimes, the project cannot be completed with current technology and you have to persist for generations.
I have noticed that writers and other people in the arts tend to take failure (in the form of rejection letters or reviews) more personally than scientists do. Even a writer who suucceeds at publishing a book that sells well, can feel like a failure as a writer or even as a person after one critical review. A rocket designer whose rocket crashed will feel bad about the failure of the design but will (usually) try to solve the problem with the rocket, not blame some flaw in their being. Take Elon Musk, Richard Feynman.
Thank you for the photo of the snow. Ouch!
I forgot to say: I do think we have to recognize when something fails. When our political policies are harmful, when the bridge we built collapses, when we are driving away the people we love instead of bringing them closer. The ability to recognize failure is the super power that enables us to strive for excellence.
Thanks for using your super powers to write both of these excellent comments, Maureen.
If the fear of failure did not exist, the first thing that comes to mind would be I’d write, write, write, much more than I do now…ripping my hair out in the process.
Beyond that I couldn’t begin to imagine what my life would be like. I’ve spent many years in paralyzed by fear and letting the world keep spinning on its own.
I’m glad you’re in the world, Bradley, and that you’re writing here.
Hey, Bradley, you sound like a writer. That fear that paralyzes you? It is the essence of being a writer. I hope you keep pursuing your gift.
Thank you, Maureen. I love writing and plan to keep going.
Yay!
If there were no failure would our accomplishments have any meaning? And that opens me up to a whole new concept: maybe it’s not healthy to feel that we need the possibility of failure to give meaning to our accomplishments? Isn’t life hard enough without adding unnecessary difficulty?
These are open-ended questions with no right or wrong answer which cuts down on the odds of failure.
I would wish Aaron good luck but it’s better if I say break a leg.
Thank you for the good luck of this accomplished comment, Chris.
We would have a mighty successful world. I choose to believe, a positive one.
If there were more people like you, Colleen, I believe we would have a mighty successful, positive world.
Thank you kindly dear Ann, I’ve been fortunate enough to have people teach me. But that means I have to have an open mind and heart. So I guess it means we must all work together for that successful world. 🙂
I like working together with you, Colleen, for that successful world.
We can do it Ann.
Failure exists as long as our ego exists. I cannot fail if I have no ego to critique my every thought and/or move. Diminishing my ego makes it easier for me to focus on the positive and not concern myself with failing. If I learned what I was supposed to then I did not fail. Perhaps failure exists but only if we repeat the same mistakes and learn nothing in the process.
I learned a lot from this insightful comment, Natalya. Many thanks.
You’re welcome and thank you for the compliment 🙂
Very interesting concept. I guess a question would be if there was no concept of failure, is it because we get things right the first time or just accept the first try as a successful one? Hmmmm….
BTW, I recently moved to a self-hosted site and the following is my latest post:
http://www.younfolded.com/2016/03/20/younfolded-temporary-maintenance/
Thank you for this interesting and successful comment, Nena.
😉 My pleasure coming by to visit you, Ann!
Failure is in the mind of the judger. What if judgment did not exist?
💛
I’m very happy that you exist, Val. ❤
Is that a judgment?😉
I’m happy that we both exist Ann! xo
I am afraid certain things must exist in pair. If the concept of failure did not exist then the concept of success also did not exist. So we end up with neither. Hmm, I am not sure about the result 🙂
I’m not sure either, but I’m sure that your comment is a success!
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I know my life would be very different, since I have used my fear of failure to paralyze my growth in many ways.
You are not alone in that. ❤
What a world this would be if we weren’t afraid to fail.
It’s an amazing concept, Carol.