On Being Like, "Yep, I Failed," with a Smile

I find, for me, that there are two ways to accept failing.

One way can go like this:

I end up eating too much sugar and feeling bloated (hence the dandelion tea pictured above), depressed, agitated, and generally blhargish. WebMD convinces me I have candida poisoning and then I feel worse that I have failed so much in the most basic act of eating. Then, I sit around reading more Internet articles. I don't do any writing, none of my weight training or yoga. On and on. It's a vicious cycle (you say to yourself in the voice of Fat Bastard from Austin Powers).

Another way:

I say, "Yeah, I done effed that up." And leave it at that. And, move on.

American culture and lexicon really over-focuses on "wins." It zeros in way too much on rewarding accomplishments and achievements, the ways in which people succeed and beat the competition. And, when we fail, there's very seldom any encouragement to reflect. We're told to immediately get up, brush the dust off, and try again.

But, I don't know, maybe we can find more strength in accepting that we simply suck as some things?

Trying over and over to "win" at something  you repeatedly fail at that doesn't make you happy is very liberating.

For me the biggest thing that I have willingly packed away has been my Chloe + Isabel merchandising.

In short, it's a job that  requires a lot of things I don't have, mainly starting capital, easily accessed customers fitting the demographic, and a salesperson's personality. As far as a salesperson goes, I'm kind of like the hunting dog that befriends the bunny rather than running it down.

I was spending way more money than I was making in c + i, and I was really not willing to converse with the demographic (what I would describe as suburb-bound stay-at-home moms with disposable income...not me at all). I don't see the merit in spending time and money (because a lot of these places they'll host a part are accessible only by car) trying to be someone I'm not. There was also an TON of overly-positive talk within the merchandiser groups. Too many exclamations points, too many empty "you can do its." Just too much. So, I stopped the hustle. Phew. Now, I know I'm really not a good salesperson. :)

Knowing what you're not good at (and that you won't be good at everything), is as important as fine tuning and celebrating what you are good at. What does that mean to you?