There are no "Fails"
A New Year Reflection
A little while ago when looking out at our back garden, one of the kids remarked, “That greenhouse was a fail, wasn’t it.”
We bought a small greenhouse during Covid, hoping to start growing new plants and also have a place to sit that was sheltered from the wind.
We enjoyed one blissful year ~ spring, summer, autumn… but then it turned out that a little glass greenhouse has nothing against the winter storms that tear through the rugged north coast of Ireland.
One by one, the glass panes flew out of the frame and shattered on the grass nearby.
So, yes ~ a fail, one could say.
But it wasn’t long before I began to look at that greenhouse as something entirely different. Its purpose shifted from a warm place for tender seedlings to a wind-friendly structure for climbing plants.
I planted honeysuckle that flourishes against that greenhouse frame nearly all year round.
Verbena grew tall and leaned against its support.
Clematis wrapped itself around the structure, reaching for the sky.
My plan is to move our climbing rose bush next to the greenhouse frame next, and to train its branches so the smell of roses wafts in as I’m sitting at the table and chairs in the spot where the seedlings would have been.
It didn’t go as planned. But ultimately, I might even like the result better.
As you look back at the past year, you might think of something as “a fail.”
Maybe it was something that didn’t work out the way you’d hoped. Perhaps you didn’t achieve a goal you’d set for yourself. Possibly a project you started didn’t move forward or fell apart.
Or an application didn’t go through. Or a job came to an end. Or an unexpected turn of events threw you off course.
But the greenhouse reminds me of a perspective I hold, and that I suspect many of you do as well, that ultimately, there are no “fails.” No matter what twists and turns this life may bring, we hold the hope that in the end, all will be redeemed.
Not that the glass will go back into that greenhouse, but that a new, different, and perhaps even better possibility will emerge instead.
So as we look back at our years, let’s not be afraid to consider what we might think were failures, let-downs, disappointments - great or small. And let’s take a moment to consider what came afterward, perhaps slowly, over time.
New perspectives. Greater wisdom. More clarity. Deeper compassion.
And as we look ahead to the New Year remembering this, we can also trust that if (when) things don’t go as planned, all will not be lost, because really ~ there are no “fails.”
Happy New Year, fellow travelers,
Kiran
I’ve put together a free 12-page workbook to help us enter the New Year well, as we consider daily habits and practices that enhance our wellbeing in body, mind, or spirit. This is especially for people who want to incorporate holistic, healthy habits but find it difficult to know where to begin. I hope it gets your thoughts going! If you’d like to explore more, I’m offering a course starting in early January. Read on for more information.
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What a beautiful re-framing on what it means to "fail." It reminds me of one of my favorite children's books - Beautiful Oops - that emphasizes what we thought were mistakes are actually the inspiration for new art!