Last night’s dinner was, well, edible, but just barely. It consisted of undercooked corn on the cob, with lots of silk still attached, overcooked burgers that were cold by the time they were served, and fries that had been left to soak in the cooking oil for about fifteen minutes.
As he was serving dinner, my son knew it hadn’t gone well. He was apologizing as he was handing us our plates.
It was his turn to cook, as he does every week, and putting together a complete dinner is a pretty big task for a 15-year old. Some nights, he’s great; his short ribs are seriously amazing. Other nights, it’s burned burgers and congealed french fries.
Sitting down to eat and tasting his food, my son asked me a question that left me overjoyed and nearly speechless:
“Can I make burgers and fries again next week, Mom?”
His first attempt at burgers was a failure. Even his own mother couldn’t pretend otherwise. So he had two choices: go back to cooking short ribs, or try again. He just automatically asked to try again.
He wasn’t deterred by his failure. He saw it for what it was, and knew he could do better. He just KNEW he could do better. He was eager to try again.
Hearing his question, I reflected back on all my failures in life. How many times did I give up and tell myself, “I’m not good at that”? How many times did I go into self-judgement and stop myself from improving?
[Related Blog Post: Why Creating Abundance Can Seem So Dang Hard]
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all look at our failures head on and say, “Okay, I gave it my best and it didn’t work out the way I wanted it to. I know I can do better. I KNOW I can do better. I’m going to learn from this, try again, and see what I am capable of”?
Just imagine what possibilities that mindset would create for you. Imagine how free you would be to go try new things, learn from your mistakes, and try again.
Maybe right now there is something in your life that you’ve been tempted to give up on, something you’re trying to talk yourself out of, something you aren’t good at yet. Maybe this is your moment to take a deep breath, remember Who You Are, and try again.
