If You LEARN Something, It Isn't A Failure

I like this saying. Always have. I've always been drawn to quotes - often posting them on bulletin boards, office walls, on the fridge, etc. This one in particular, I have seen in several variations and credited to several different sources. No bother - I just like the concept. It's simple. And to me, so true.

Have you ever had a flaw pointed out in a way that just...HURT? Like a raw, shooting pain in the gut and "oh please let me catch my breath" kind of hurt? I'm pretty aware of my shortcomings - I'm not even terribly shy about volunteering them to almost any audience. But sometimes - just the right person can point them out in just the right way - and it kind of just destroys me for a moment. Even when I know that was not the intention. Even when I absolutely know it to be very true. It doesn't stop the hurt.

But if I learn from it, and even better - I improve upon it - then I can't package it in misery and label it failure. Right? This is important because I lean toward the VERY self critical and it doesn't take much to classify certain things bad, negative, a failure.

And I want to be good at things. A lot of things. But a few things, I MUST be good at. I won't settle for less. Daughter. Sister. Mother (yes, even if only the fur variety thank you very much). Friend. WIFE...

I am not perfect and (really) I don't even aspire to be. But I want the key people in my life to always know that I'd go to the end of the earth if they needed it. I'd walk through fire. I love immensely, crazily, without fail or condition. My expression of it can often leave a lot to be desired (and I'm sorry for that with my whole being because it is so far from the truth of what I feel)...but it doesn't change the intensity of it. Or the fact that it is there. Without fail.

So I will focus on the lessons learned from tough conversations and moments. I will improve upon skills I believe to be important (whether basic or complex). I may lose the moment, but I will not lose the lesson.

In the end, it will be enough. Right?