August 19, 2012

Failure is ALWAYS An Option

One of the more recent news items of interest (for me, at least) was the revelation that several people had burned their feet participating in a Tony Robbins motivational seminar.

Now, like Richard Pryor, I believe fire is inspirational, but along with some other personal experiences, it has me thinking along lines I've blogged about elsewhere.

Normally, I'm not pessimistic or believe that the worst can happen. Quite the opposite, in fact....but I am getting a bit worn out by the always-keep-on-the-sunny-side, who believe that they are, in essence, the Don Quixote of the 21st Century.

You know the type...people who believe that they can do anything they set their mind to. The ones who believe that their job, first and foremost, is to be "remarkable"....without any justification. The kind who will name their group "The Community" and claim to be willing to work with others...but will tell you straight faced that "The Community" does not want your efforts.

(Yes, that actually happened. Of course, "The Community" in question appears to be dying after only eight months, but I digress).

Being negative doesn't mean being planning for negative outcomes - it means (to use a really cool concept that I love) defensively pessmistic. It means seeing what can go wrong and, well, making plans to counter it. Yes, things will go wrong, and nothing turns out perfectly....but it beats the kind of gerbil-faced optimism (with a rational backing) that is promoted by people in several fields of endeavor: comics fans, non-profit workers, etc.

But in my opinion, failure is always an option. There's something quite beautiful - at times - of seeing the oh-so lovely glow of plans as they crash and burn. Thankfully, right now there's nothing that I can state is an absolute failure: I only know, as Thomas Edison did, all the ways that didn't work.

Because Rome wasn't - and will never be - built in a day. No matter how positive I am.

P.S. Yes, I am having a spot of insomnia, why do you ask?

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