Celebrating Failure

This past semester I have had my fair share of failures. One particular failure comes to mind that was strikingly upsetting. All semester I had tried to work out more and treat my body well. I had been going to the gym for weeks and had decided my goal was to be able to bench press 100 pounds. I always struggled with fitness and have had this goal in mind for a few years now. I promised myself I would be able to do it by April 1st. After weeks of working out and training, a few days before April 1st I realized I was nowhere near my goal. I felt so disappointed in myself, and wondered how I could have put in so much work... yet barely break 80 pounds. Yet, on April 1st I still tried, and my spotter had to lift 100 pounds off my chest in my friends garage/make shift gym. I was humiliated. I had been talking about that goal for weeks and my friends were really rooting for me, considering they were all of similar build and had completed my feat in high school. However, as deflated and sad I felt, I knew I could still complete my goal. I may not be able to lift 100 pounds, but I can lift 80... and two months ago I could barely lift 50. I learned that I can't just focus on how far I have to go, but rather how far I came. Even though I haven't reached my goal, I have plenty of time and dedication to put into achieving it. I handle failure by turning it into a teaching and learning lesson... after a pint of ice cream or two, you know just to take the edge off. This class helped me learn that my failures are blessings, and I can use that failure as a lesson and motivation to get up and try harder next time. That without failure, I wouldn't know what doesn't work and I can use that in order to take me one step closer to my goals.