We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents
Bob Ross
We have to learn to frame the language we use when things don’t go well for us. We have to resist seeing it as failure and instead insist that it is simply a happy accident. It sure won’t feel happy in the moment. It will hurt and sting when we are smack down in the middle of it, but we need the faith and wisdom to know that adversity always makes us better.
And so you didn’t fail, you simply learned a lesson and that is a huge difference of perspective. Failure that is left untreated and remains beholden as a failure lingers your whole life, cultivating with deep great pangs of regret. Failure that is understood, analyzed, and ultimately corrected becomes the foundation of a life you can never truly imagine.
Life is all just one big happy accident. We didn’t choose to be here We didn’t choose our parents, our country, or many of the things that we experience. Our choice is how we see everything. That’s the great gift. If you don’t like it, do something about it. Change. Push. Fight. Overcome. That’s why we read so many stories. Stories of overcoming tragedy and adversities. Stories of triumph. Stories that point us in the right direction.
Say yes, before you’re ready. Say yes, before you have the confidence. Say yes and leap into the unknown and learn as you go, fix what you break, and get to where you want to go. Where there is a will there is always a way. Where there is a yes, a real, honest, disciplined, determined yes, there will always be meaningful outcomes. There are infinite examples of it and all you have to do is just to look around and see. There are also infinite examples of the other kind. Of giving up, of second guessing, of seeing failure not only as a setback, but by seeing it as a failure of our very selves.
People are people and mistakes are mistakes. We need to keep them separate because the world runs on second chances. Our entire lives run on accidental little happystances.
You should look for happystances in your own life and expect to see them each and every day. They are always there. The possibilities are always right before our eyes, but we choose to look down. We choose to look away. We choose to look back, when we should be looking forward.
Always look forward. Plan for tomorrow and don’t spend any more time on what happened yesterday. It seems painfully obvious, but in reality being able to live like this is very difficult because there are not many of us who genuinely hold tight to happy little accidents.
Failure should be fascinating or it can be. Failure is an opportunity to wonder with the mind and heart of a child at the magic of it all. Life is nothing but magic. We are constantly surprised why some thing go this way or that way. We are thrilled to the core when the rabbit comes out of the hat, and extremely anxious when a limb gets amputated right before our eyes.
Learn to perceive your life better. Learn to use language that frames your life better. Let go of unhappy failures and embrace happy little accidents.
