Stories about failure and bouncing back

Yes and no. I started reframing failure as a learning experience, growth, bump in the road. What works and doesn't work for me. Some things and the way they're done "traditionally" just don't work for you as an individual. You have to try it differently in the way that does work for you. I also look at failure from a wider lens. Is it a failure because I am disappointed by the outcomes or is it a failure because someone / society told me it was a failure? That mental shift was huge for me. I thought I was a failure for not having a good, six figure job by 25 (despite having a degree). But why should I feel like that? Who defined success like that and why does it exclude so many rewarding careers with an average salary? After that, I realized so much life success is an arbitrary societal goal that doesn't align with what I want or what makes me happy. It also doesn't help that so many of these "life milestones" were created by white, able-bodied, middle to upper class, hetero, cis people. Failure is just an experience. You learn from it and grow from it.

Ah...I remember the 2008 crash. I lost everything, my job laid me off, I forfeited my apartment to keep from getting an eviction, then my car broke down. A nice older woman took me in. I had to apply for food stamps and was on unemployment. That was a really low time for me, and I was desperate for a job, any job. Finally a place hired me after about 6 months and I slowly had to get that all back. Fast forward a decade later, I'm living in a sunny beautiful city, married with a son. I recently discovered a passion of mine and am pursuing the heck out of it. I wonder how far it'll take me🤔 I'll have to see.

I've been thinking about this lately. I believe that failure teaches you more about who you really are than success ever will.

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I love a good bounce back. I’ve been broke than a mfer and had to eat veggie straws for dinner more than once. I’ve gotten the job of my DREAMS but wasn’t happy and felt like a failure when I quit. I’ve moved clear across the country more than once only to realize “this ain’t it!” Only to have to find the money to move again.

But I always get back up and keep it moving because my thought is “what is my other option?”. I gotta keep living and trying to do better, find my peace, find my joy, so I get back to pursuing it. It sucks sometimes but there’s so many lessons in it. I push myself to do better and learn what I am truly capable of. Now I feel like, barring some extreme tragedy, ima be okay. I give meaning to the madness because for me, that’s life. It’s gotta mean SOMETHING (for me) otherwise what am I here for?

I’m in a season of shit now going how I want so I’m busting my ass to get to my season of success and learning so much about myself along the way.

I’ve failed at jobs, friendships, college courses (I can’t do math for shit, I had to take stats twice and still only came out with a D!) but damn it if I don’t LOVE the woman it made me. I am my biggest fan and bouncing back after all those failures is what made me.

You will fail. But that’s not what defines you, it’s what you do after.

If at first you don’t succeed, pick ya self up and try again, try again 🎶