Failure Isn't the Worst Thing
I just finished reading "Big Magic," by Elizabeth Gilbert. (You might recognize her as the author of "Eat, Pray, Love.")
The subtitle of Gilbert's book is "Creative Living Beyond Fear." And the timing of it, reading this during a time when I've so recently "failed" at being intentional, is all too perfect. Because one of the reasons I struggle with moving beyond "good intentions," to actually getting things done, is fear. Fear of failure. Fear of imperfection. Fear of rejection. Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO - it's a thing!) on "this" because I'm doing "that."
Fear can immobilize you, keeping you stuck in those "good intentions." But Gilbert points out that creativity doesn't strike while you're doing nothing. Great ideas, if you're ever so lucky to have one, happen when you're busy living, doing, creating.
It reminds me of the Parable of the Talents, found in Matthew 25. A man is going on a journey and leaves three of his servants in charge of his wealth. To one servant he gives 5 talents, to another 2 talents, and to the third servant he gives 1 talent. (It would take a person an average of 20 years to earn 1 talent, so he wasn't exactly being stingy with the third guy!)
When the man returns from his journey, the servant he had given 5 talents to has doubled what he was given. Same goes for the servant who was given 2 talents. But the servant given 1 talent buried his talent. The master gets angry with the servant for "wasting his talent" and gives that 1 talent to the servant who has 10 talents. "To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given..."
This is precisely what we learn about "how to be great". When you use what you have, when you sit down at your desk with the intention to write or paint each and every day, when you put on your running shoes and head outdoors, when you practice free throws long after everyone else has left the gym for the night, you are using well what you have been given, and more will be given to you. More desire to create. More craft to your words. More ability to hit your target. More stride in your step.
What interests me about this parable, however, is that the first two servants took a gamble on doubling their talents and it paid off. But what if the first servant had bet all his talents at the racetrack and ended up losing some or all of it? And what if the second servant had invested his talents in the stock market only for the DOW to drop that day? Would the master still have been happy with them?
This is precisely what Gilbert is talking about in "Big Magic." What if, in the process of trying to be good stewards of our talents, we fail? We don't become famous writers or painters? We still miss free throws when the game is on the line? We still struggle with tying our shoes or qualifying for a marathon?
Gilbert claims the master's happiness in every occasion. She says it is better to fail than to not have tried. In fact, she claims it is better to fail a million times than to "quit while you're ahead" and never try again after you have succeeded once. (She is super bummed that Harper Lee never wrote again after "To Kill A Mockingbird." Even if her subsequent books had been failures, Gilbert would have been happier for her than she is now.)
Because we are called to use our talents. We are called to do something.
We aren't called to succeed, we are called to be faithful.
And Gilbert says that maybe, just maybe, in the midst of all your failures you will succeed. You will have a "Big Magic" kind of moment. But even if you don't, even if you never have "your moment," you are still a success, because you lived with intention the life you are called to live.
The subtitle of Gilbert's book is "Creative Living Beyond Fear." And the timing of it, reading this during a time when I've so recently "failed" at being intentional, is all too perfect. Because one of the reasons I struggle with moving beyond "good intentions," to actually getting things done, is fear. Fear of failure. Fear of imperfection. Fear of rejection. Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO - it's a thing!) on "this" because I'm doing "that."
Fear can immobilize you, keeping you stuck in those "good intentions." But Gilbert points out that creativity doesn't strike while you're doing nothing. Great ideas, if you're ever so lucky to have one, happen when you're busy living, doing, creating.
It reminds me of the Parable of the Talents, found in Matthew 25. A man is going on a journey and leaves three of his servants in charge of his wealth. To one servant he gives 5 talents, to another 2 talents, and to the third servant he gives 1 talent. (It would take a person an average of 20 years to earn 1 talent, so he wasn't exactly being stingy with the third guy!)
When the man returns from his journey, the servant he had given 5 talents to has doubled what he was given. Same goes for the servant who was given 2 talents. But the servant given 1 talent buried his talent. The master gets angry with the servant for "wasting his talent" and gives that 1 talent to the servant who has 10 talents. "To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given..."
This is precisely what we learn about "how to be great". When you use what you have, when you sit down at your desk with the intention to write or paint each and every day, when you put on your running shoes and head outdoors, when you practice free throws long after everyone else has left the gym for the night, you are using well what you have been given, and more will be given to you. More desire to create. More craft to your words. More ability to hit your target. More stride in your step.
What interests me about this parable, however, is that the first two servants took a gamble on doubling their talents and it paid off. But what if the first servant had bet all his talents at the racetrack and ended up losing some or all of it? And what if the second servant had invested his talents in the stock market only for the DOW to drop that day? Would the master still have been happy with them?
This is precisely what Gilbert is talking about in "Big Magic." What if, in the process of trying to be good stewards of our talents, we fail? We don't become famous writers or painters? We still miss free throws when the game is on the line? We still struggle with tying our shoes or qualifying for a marathon?
Gilbert claims the master's happiness in every occasion. She says it is better to fail than to not have tried. In fact, she claims it is better to fail a million times than to "quit while you're ahead" and never try again after you have succeeded once. (She is super bummed that Harper Lee never wrote again after "To Kill A Mockingbird." Even if her subsequent books had been failures, Gilbert would have been happier for her than she is now.)
Because we are called to use our talents. We are called to do something.
We aren't called to succeed, we are called to be faithful.
And Gilbert says that maybe, just maybe, in the midst of all your failures you will succeed. You will have a "Big Magic" kind of moment. But even if you don't, even if you never have "your moment," you are still a success, because you lived with intention the life you are called to live.
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