A few weeks ago during a riding lesson, in front of six
other students and a couple of watching parents, I made an “unscheduled
dismount” from Tank’s back. We were practicing a combination of two small
fences called a “bounce”—so named because the horse jumps the first fence then
“bounces” over the second one without taking a stride. We’d never done this
before and, it became obvious, hadn’t quite figured it out.
On one of our attempts, Tank didn’t have enough impulsion
going in and had to make a big effort to get over the second fence,
consequently “bouncing” me out of the saddle, where I clung to his neck like a
scarf, making heroic efforts to stay aboard. Kind of like this (but with less
success):
Tank stopped obligingly while I struggled to stay on, but
eventually I slid to the ground, landing on my feet.
When I related this story to my friend Laure, she asked,
“Did you take a bow?”
Laure’s question made me think about how some failures
really need some form of positive acknowledgment—like taking a bow. After all,
when we fail at something, we’re most likely pushing our comfort zones or
trying to master something new. A spectacular failure comes from taking a big
chance or going hard for something we want. That should be celebrated, even if
the outcome wasn’t quite what we intended.
I’ve written about failure before, but coping with it is a
lesson that bears repeating. Failing is important. It means you’re stretching,
growing, and learning. Instead of hiding our failures, we can at least
acknowledge them, if we can’t quite imagine celebrating them.
So the next time you fail, spectacularly or not, take a bow.
Acknowledge that beautiful failure, be grateful for it, and move on.
