“Remember that failure is an event, not a person.” ~ Zig Zigler

It will be a very simple design, as I am trying to hedge my chances for success and build up my confidence for something more challenging down the road. Of course, the underlying fear is that I will fail at even this simple project, and drive myself deeper into the trenches of seeing myself as a failure.
In truth, I don’t fear failure. I fear being a failure. In response to my previous blog post about fear of failure, a friend of mine, Mike, asked, “Doesn’t ‘success’ or ‘failure’ always relate to a goal of some sort that has been set? The words are meaningless unless something concrete has been chosen to try and accomplish; then the words apply depending upon whether or not one achieves the goal, or how far one misses it by.”
Mike is right. Labeling myself as a failure or as a success is meaningless. One is never completely one or the other. We fail at some things and we succeed at others. Failing and succeeding are facts of life that occur every time we set a goal. And the world keeps spinning regardless of whether or not we fail at any given goal. Or whether we succeed, for that matter.
So I’ve got the design for the glass panel conceived in my mind. The next step is to actually draw the pattern, to capture the intangible image onto paper. And to draw a parallel here, one could note that success and failure are merely intangible concepts, too, captured only in the essence of the outcomes of our goals. I should fear them no more than I fear my project design concept.
In drawing the pattern – the blueprint – for my project, I am developing the guide that I’m going to follow. I'm setting the parameters within which I will want to work if I am going to achieve my goal. The path can take many routes, but this represents the destination.
In patterning my life, I know my destination: peace. Spiritual, mental, emotional, physical… peace. The particular path I take to get there, the specific materials and methods I will use are irrelevant at this point. And successes and failures are irrelevant, as well. That’s a parameter I need to set.
It’s time to draw some lines, literally and figuratively.
“All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your
destination.” ~ Earl Nightingale