Surrender: Catastrophic Failure or Chipped Paint?

Friday, January 29, 2010


So often what happens in the surrender portion of the Big Fat Cycle is that we believe small setbacks are automatic precursors to catastrophic failures.  I promised myself I'd blog six days this week.  I didn't get a blog in before midnight on Thursday.  Oh well.

It's so easy to say well i missed one day, I might as well blow off the week.  This whole blogging thing isn't really working out that well anyways.  That chipped paint on the bridge really masks a hairline crack on the bridge which is really the sign the whole bridge will come down.

Now chipped paint on a bridge is not something to go unnoticed.  Small problems in maintenance can lead to catastrophic failures if ignored long enough.  But small problems are, well, small.  Chipped paint may mean that area of the bridge needs attention.  It may mean nothing.  It probably does NOT mean it's time to blow up the bridge.

It's so easy to fall into all or nothing, black and white thinking.  But life doesn't work that way.  And if the only way to succeed is to be perfect every day forever, guess what.  None of us will ever, ever succeed.  Thankfully, setbacks, minor issues and bumps in the road are a normal and natural part of any endeavor whether successful or not. 

The difference between success and failure is not whether or not you fall.  It's whether you (like a cat) get up, shake the dirt out of your fur and tell the world, "I meant to do that".  So I hope you'll forgive me for not blogging yesterday.  I forgave me.

Love,
TFC

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