Permission to Fail

Find true freedom and be inspired by and acrylic print of this artwork!

Giving one's self permission to fail is the entry point to well-being.

We are human beings, and many times, our expectations and reality don't meet. We just cannot possibly every relevant factor into our actions and decisions. Everyone is doing there best, but the outcome is just somehow out our control. And that is perfectly fine. We invest energy and care into our conduct and the way we go about in life, and more or less often, the results are satisfying.

That is because, using the "we reap as we sow" proverb, the seeds we sow, and what kind of soil we sow them are up to us, but whether they will prosper into fruitful plants, mostly isn't. What kind of sunlight, frost and weather they will get, are not something we can influence. Therefore, we mostly just sow, care for the growing plants, and let nature handle the rest. And we reap when the time comes. If everything works out, we can store up resources for the next year, maybe even more.

However, sometimes things don't work out, and that is just disappointing. If it hurts a bit, we overcome it with time, stand up again, and go back to sowing. But if it hurts more than we can bear, we might change attitudes, take on new motivations, and change course. The mind might reason "If I don't have the results of my effort, why bother?" But the mind is just incorrect most of the time, so we need the ability to correct it firmly. Without seeds, there will surely be no fruits. Not being able to control everything (the biggest regret of the human mind), doesn't mean there is no value in doing our best.

There is nothing more valuable than being the best we can possibly be.

Doing the best we can is not just a little bit better than average, it is infinitely better. So we can cheer up because we're already doing it! Best is meant in the context that is available to us as we are. If we are as loving to others, helpful, healthy and loving to our own selves we can be, that is just something to be very happy about!

The mind, of course, can come, and start saying we weren't doing our best, and we should have been even more, even better. Well, how does it know? If we could have, we would have. Judging whether is not up to us, just that we commit ourselves to be the best we can possibly be. And then relax in that.