Actually, failure *is* an option... but despair is not
I first sat down to write this entry the other day, but before I could get a word out, I was interrupted by a day-job crisis that put my entire premise to the test. Fortunately, I got through it in one piece.
As I've pointed out before, the news media's business model depends on keeping your attention, so you'll stay tuned through all their commercials. One way they do that is by trying to convince you that something you value is about to be taken away. At the most basic level, they try to make you think your life is in jeopardy. That's where all those local TV news stories come from - "Can your pet hamster kill you? Details at eleven!"
You see it in sports, too. As a lifelong fan of the Indy 500, I've been reading articles explaining why IndyCar racing is on death's door ever since the split between the Indy Racing League and CART - twenty-two years ago. You'd think surviving a decade would be long enough to get off the critical list, let alone more than two. And now this year, there were more than thirty-three cars trying to qualify for the Indy 500, meaning that someone was going to be "bumped" from the field for not being fast enough. It was the first time that's happened in several years, and for all those years, columnists lamented that the lack of "bumping" was a sign of IndyCar's imminent demise. So what did those columnists say this year? "Why Indy 500 Bump Day could be disastrous for IndyCar." And it only got worse when one of the most popular drivers in the series didn't make the race, despite the fact that such things have happened many times before. Let's face it, the Speedway just can't win.
But the worst offenders are the election prognosticators. The midterm elections are still five and a half months away, and already the news outlets have been busy interpreting every little blip in the poll numbers as a sign of catastrophe. You think there's going to be a "Blue Wave" that sweeps the Democrats into control of at least one Congressional chamber? Don't be silly! Never mind that the current administration is the most corrupt and incompetent in history. Hillary Clinton might say something inflammatory, like "Hi, I'm still alive." Chuck Schumer might cough at the wrong time during a speech. Millennials might be too busy watching something on their phones to get out and vote. You'd better tune in and watch our panel of experts analyze the possibilities for the next few hours.
There have been plenty of times in the past year and a half when I've felt like if tiny little missteps by Democrats can outweigh enormous misdeeds by Republicans, then we might as well just admit who we are as a nation and be done with it. If inclusive democracy is that hard while bigoted authoritarianism is that easy, then I've got news for you - the United States is bigoted and authoritarian.
But that doesn't have to be the end of the story.
Contrary to what they said in the Apollo 13 movie (and what the real-life Gene Kranz has now adopted), failure actually is an option. Maybe the Indy 500 will be hurt. Maybe the Republicans will prevail in November. Maybe Trump will be reelected in 2020. There are no guarantees.
But whatever happens, even if we fail, that failure doesn't have to be final. It's not final unless we choose to make it final, unless we choose to give up and embrace despair rather than adapt and respond. Things didn't turn out the way you wanted? Okay, what do you do next? Where can you turn next? What's the next option? What can you rethink in order to make your next attempt better?
There are plenty of times when I want to give up. The day-job crisis I mentioned is just a recent example. But for some reason, I'm not allowed any more. It's like my soul tries to sink down inside myself, only to hit some kind of metaphysical force field, and in my mind I hear, "No, no, no, you don't get to do that." Maybe it's the six years of therapy I did, or the meds I take for my stomach, or all the trials I went through in my twenties, or something more spiritual than that. Who can say? All I know is that it never seems to take long before I find myself trying to figure out what to do next - although I'll admit that sometimes I do it grudgingly.
So rather than sit there fretting about whatever your news outlet of choice wants you to fret about, start thinking of what you can do to take back some control. You might not be able to get where you thought you wanted to go, but you can get somewhere, and that's better than going nowhere.
And on that note, I've got to get ready for another meeting to discuss that crisis I mentioned...
As I've pointed out before, the news media's business model depends on keeping your attention, so you'll stay tuned through all their commercials. One way they do that is by trying to convince you that something you value is about to be taken away. At the most basic level, they try to make you think your life is in jeopardy. That's where all those local TV news stories come from - "Can your pet hamster kill you? Details at eleven!"
You see it in sports, too. As a lifelong fan of the Indy 500, I've been reading articles explaining why IndyCar racing is on death's door ever since the split between the Indy Racing League and CART - twenty-two years ago. You'd think surviving a decade would be long enough to get off the critical list, let alone more than two. And now this year, there were more than thirty-three cars trying to qualify for the Indy 500, meaning that someone was going to be "bumped" from the field for not being fast enough. It was the first time that's happened in several years, and for all those years, columnists lamented that the lack of "bumping" was a sign of IndyCar's imminent demise. So what did those columnists say this year? "Why Indy 500 Bump Day could be disastrous for IndyCar." And it only got worse when one of the most popular drivers in the series didn't make the race, despite the fact that such things have happened many times before. Let's face it, the Speedway just can't win.
But the worst offenders are the election prognosticators. The midterm elections are still five and a half months away, and already the news outlets have been busy interpreting every little blip in the poll numbers as a sign of catastrophe. You think there's going to be a "Blue Wave" that sweeps the Democrats into control of at least one Congressional chamber? Don't be silly! Never mind that the current administration is the most corrupt and incompetent in history. Hillary Clinton might say something inflammatory, like "Hi, I'm still alive." Chuck Schumer might cough at the wrong time during a speech. Millennials might be too busy watching something on their phones to get out and vote. You'd better tune in and watch our panel of experts analyze the possibilities for the next few hours.
There have been plenty of times in the past year and a half when I've felt like if tiny little missteps by Democrats can outweigh enormous misdeeds by Republicans, then we might as well just admit who we are as a nation and be done with it. If inclusive democracy is that hard while bigoted authoritarianism is that easy, then I've got news for you - the United States is bigoted and authoritarian.
But that doesn't have to be the end of the story.
Contrary to what they said in the Apollo 13 movie (and what the real-life Gene Kranz has now adopted), failure actually is an option. Maybe the Indy 500 will be hurt. Maybe the Republicans will prevail in November. Maybe Trump will be reelected in 2020. There are no guarantees.
But whatever happens, even if we fail, that failure doesn't have to be final. It's not final unless we choose to make it final, unless we choose to give up and embrace despair rather than adapt and respond. Things didn't turn out the way you wanted? Okay, what do you do next? Where can you turn next? What's the next option? What can you rethink in order to make your next attempt better?
There are plenty of times when I want to give up. The day-job crisis I mentioned is just a recent example. But for some reason, I'm not allowed any more. It's like my soul tries to sink down inside myself, only to hit some kind of metaphysical force field, and in my mind I hear, "No, no, no, you don't get to do that." Maybe it's the six years of therapy I did, or the meds I take for my stomach, or all the trials I went through in my twenties, or something more spiritual than that. Who can say? All I know is that it never seems to take long before I find myself trying to figure out what to do next - although I'll admit that sometimes I do it grudgingly.
So rather than sit there fretting about whatever your news outlet of choice wants you to fret about, start thinking of what you can do to take back some control. You might not be able to get where you thought you wanted to go, but you can get somewhere, and that's better than going nowhere.
And on that note, I've got to get ready for another meeting to discuss that crisis I mentioned...
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