No one is good at everything. I would even say that I am bad at most things. I fail way more than I succeed. As depressing as this may sound, I’ve learned to love it—and you should too.
Like most other children, I attempted a variety of sports. From softball to gymnastics, I’ve tried it all. To put it nicely, my talent didn’t exactly ~shine through~ during this time. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t slack in any of these sports. I went to practice and put in the time. However, I was not blowing anyone away with my athleticism.
One day, I decided to try swimming. No one in my family was a swimmer; In fact, my dad didn’t even know how to swim. I wish I could say there was a reason for my sudden decision to become a swimmer, but that would be a lie. There was nothing particularly special about the sport, I just felt the urge to do it. However, it might have been some sort of fate because in the pool is where I learned the importance of failing.
I threw myself into swimming much harder than I had thrown myself into any of my previous sporty endeavors. Six days a week I would have my parents drive me over to the pool for practice. I pushed myself to do my best consistently. For once, I understood hard work. Despite this effort, I did not excel in the pool. It’s hard to put in so much time and energy and not see the results. However, I grew so much as a person just by experiencing this failure.
Every time I got in the pool and got beat by the other swimmers, I learned how to improve. When we fail, we are given the amazing opportunity to change. It is easy to wallow because things didn’t go the way we hoped, but that’s just a waste of time. The world is putting out constructive criticism and it would be a shame to just ignore it. No one learns by doing things correctly the first time, so why is there a belief that we must be good at something as soon as we try it? I know it is hard to resist being a perfectionist, but the key to life is constantly learning and growing while accepting mistakes. Life would be boring if we succeeded at everything immediately.
Another benefit of failing is the humility that comes with it. My parents raised me to be humble. As much as I want to say I stuck to this, I know I was arrogant at some points as I was growing up. Every time I fail, I am reminded that there will always be people better than me. But, that’s okay because life isn’t a competition, and we’re all just trying our hardest. Yes, confidence is important, but there also needs to be a balance of humility and confidence. In a way, it is comforting to know that it is impossible to be the best. Once you know it’s impossible, you stop trying to be the best and learn to just be yourself.
Even though it’s not always fun, I immensely appreciate the wisdom that not always being successful has given me. I’m aware that not everyone can relate to swimming, but I know everyone can relate to failing. Whether it be in school or work or something entirely different, failing is difficult. But, keep in mind that in the end it is making us better.