Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.
Samuel Beckett
“I sent you the Strawberry Lady schedule,” my wife tells me a few days ago, meaning she forwarded me an email. She is sitting across the room when she tells me this.
All the men reading this will instantly know this was not done out of courtesy. It was not, “I thought you might be interested to know that the Strawberry Lady is beginning her rounds.” Or “Wouldn’t fresh strawberries taste great right now.” No, this meant “I expect you to go get me strawberries. Here is where you can find them.”
So, that’s how I found myself sitting in a local parking lot, in my car, in sub-freezing temperatures, waiting to buy a flat of strawberries.
I admire people who can see a need and then find a way to fill that need. There are so many things that could go wrong with a seasonal business like that, it’s scary. Fruit that sits on a truck too long, or gets too cold in transit, might not be worth buying when it arrives. I believe that’s called chutzpah (the modern definition, anyway, said the white Protestant using a Yiddish word.) With great risk comes great reward. And, of course, the possibility of failure.
For most of us, the possibility of failure isn’t something we’re willing to contemplate. But failing is where we learn the most. Any coach will tell you that. You don’t learn anything from winning. When you lose, or fail, you find things to fix. And then you go out and do it again.
Taking a risk and trying something new doesn’t mean going into business importing strawberries in winter. It might mean writing poetry or painting a picture or entering your prize pie recipe into a contest. For me, taking risks and “putting it out there” is the definition of the human condition. That is what makes us different. I see a lot of people complain about their lives on social media. When I see people say how bored or frustrated they are, I always wonder if they’re taking any risks or trying anything new.
Don’t get me wrong, failing sucks. There’s no way around that. And sometimes, after you’ve failed several times, it can get so frustrating you question why you ever started in the first place. A few days later, something comes to mind and you think “Maybe if I tried…” and then you are off again.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go clean up some strawberries for dinner. And then, I think I might just start writing a new story..