Trial and Error

Fear of failure has stopped me more times that I’d like to admit. If I failed, I thought it diminished me. I didn't realize what a necessary part in life that trial and error played.

I gained some valuable insight on making mistakes in Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth. He writes that being willing to make mistakes teaches us what doesn’t work, and that knowing what doesn’t work puts us one step closer to figuring out what does. Eckhart also writes about being “at ease with not knowing.” I find both concepts very freeing.

In the past, I’ve joked about embracing failure, trying to fail, which makes people laugh, but what I really want is to let go of my fear and take risks to achieve things.

I’ll start by using Eckhart’s ideas to reframe my thinking. Every few days I’ll ask myself “Caren, what did you do that didn’t work?” I’ll be very present and listen to my response. Then I’ll congratulate myself on knowing what doesn’t work and being one step closer to knowing what does.

Just writing all this down takes enormous pressure off of me. I don’t have to know all of the answers, all I have to do is to keep searching for them. I think I can handle that!