Last week was about flumping.  This week is about facing challenges, being human, and being okay with joining the failure club.

Recently, Alice played The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past, which originally came out for Super Nintendo.  She struggled quite a bit when she fought Ganon, the final boss, and as a result she became overstimulated and incredibly frustrated.  I asked her to pause for a second to catch her breath, and then I asked her what was going on.  Exasperated, she told me that she kept missing Ganon with her sword and how she kept screwing up.  Reading in between the lines, I could see that she felt like a total failure and that she was the only one to make mistakes like this.

After hearing this I started a funny rant that went like this, “Congratulations!  You are now a member of the ‘I missed Ganon with my sword’ club.  Anyone who has ever played this game and made it this far is a member of that club.  In fact, not only am I a member, but I’m the president of the club.  If you give me a few minutes, I’ll even go and stamp your membership card.”  Alice busted out laughing.  My funny rant made her realize that she wasn’t uniquely a failure.  It made her realize that EVERYONE has been in the same boat as her.  Once she realized this, she wasn’t as frustrated.  She defeated Ganon and saved Hyrule shortly after.

What does this have to do with anything?  When you fail at something, do you ever feel like you are alone?  Do you ever feel like you must suck or be a horrible person?  I know I do.  If you’ve ever failed, I’d like to take a moment to welcome you to the “I failed, which makes me human” club.Anyone who has ever lived is a member of this club.  If you want, I can even stamp your membership card and give you a sticker 😉 All kidding aside, we are all miraculously flawed and beautiful humans.  None of us are ever truly alone in our failures and mistakes.  Somewhere there is a larger club with thousands, millions, and even billions of people who have been through something similar.  You are never alone.  Take solace and strength from that.

The challenge: How will you embrace your membership in the “I’m a messy human club”?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry