Last week, I talked about being a writer that doesn’t write. No where near enough at least. I mentioned that I’ll often procrastinate by any means necessary, in order to avoid starting, at least in part because I’m afraid to risk failure.
And then I saw Jim Carrey’s 2014 Commencement speech at Maharishi University and I heard these words:
“You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”
In truth, I think I avoid writing because I’m more afraid to fail at this than anything else. When I fail as a teacher, as an entrepreneur, at Jiu Jitsu, of course it hurts… but I can soften the blow by reasoning that I’m a fish out of water, that it isn’t my ‘thing,’ that I should be proud of myself no matter what.
I guess I’ve been avoiding failing at writing for fear that it’ll mean more. Hurt more. The irony being that not writing results in a much less fulfilling life and ultimately equates to failure anyway.
As I find myself writing more, writing things that matter, I begin to see what I was missing all along.
What I’m coming to understand is that when you do what you love and take a chance on what really matters, failure feels somewhat like winning.
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