I'm Giving You A Get Out Of Failure Free Card

"Failure is the foundation for success."

Old Japanese proverb

Jan. 3, 2013

Today I am 194.8 pounds of rolling thunder. 

OK, so the needle is still tilting up, but my workout routine has been a little limited by this darn sore back. So much for being so cavalier and just pushing through the pain the other day. My only hope is that I'm not so fat come Fat Tuesday.

The two things that I find difficult to gauge are back pain and colds. Sometimes you run through them and they work themselves out. Sometimes you run through them and you're laid up for a week because you didn't listen to your body.

I finally got out on the road yesterday, but this time I listened to my body and walked when my back started feeling chippy, which was within the first few paces.

 Remember back in school when you had to go through your tests and redo the problems, so you knew how to do the work the next time through.

Don't you think it's a lot the same as an adult when you make a mistake? If you can embrace correcting your errors shortly after they occur, you will be better the next time out.

Accept them: The first step is to realize we all make mistakes -- large and small.

Own them: The second thing to do is to take responsibility for your error. Own it. Chances are others will see you in a more human light if you own your mistakes.

Learn from them: Don't expect different results if you keep doing the same things. Learn from your errors and adjust what you're doing appropriately.

Forget them: This is easier said than done. We all want to do a good job in whatever we attempt, but when failure happens you have to let it go. When you think about it, the only thing you can change is what you do in the future. You've got to be a little like a defensive back in football who gives up a long scoring pass but comes back to play another down without the fear of failure.

Chances are -- and we all battle this -- the failure was much larger in our own mind than it was in the minds of others.

So what does this have to do with running? Not much, but I'm letting you off the guilt hook for a day so you can enjoy your run, so get out there and have fun.

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
Winston Churchill