Failure now equals success later?

Up until not so long ago I used to think that everywhere around the world people were taught that failure was unacceptable and had to be avoided at all cost. Naturally then, I was pretty happy with myself for not having, basically ever, failed at anything remotely important.

But then, back in my AIESEC days, I went to a short lecture given by Noam Kostucki  entitled something along the lines of "The success of failure". 

It was an eye-opener.

The lecture itself was a lot of fun, very educative and entertaining, but at the same time the conclusion I arrived at by the end of it was not so much fun. I realised never having failed was nothing to be proud of because it simply meant that I had never pushed myself enough, always played it safe and adapted my goals in such a way, that I'd always stay in my comfort zone. Sometimes almost crossing that fine line between the comfort zone and the whole universe outside of it, but never quite making the jump.

Recently, I've been talking to a couple of my (oh, so amazing!) friends about success, career, drive and ambition. I was saying how I felt I was lazy and didn't have the drive to pursue 'the real thing', always staying back and thus feeling underchallenged. They were saying how they wouldn't use the word 'lazy' in the same sentence they'd form to describe me. And so it got me thinking, once again, where does this discrepancy come from? How come they seem to take me as a motivated and driven person, and I see myself as a bit of slacker?

During the last couple of years, there's been basically one big mental block I'd had in my head but I decided I've had enough and started working on removing it. I was astonished to see that within a week of making the decision, I was on the best way to actually conquering it, let alone tackling the issue at hand. Let's see how things shape up in the following months but one thing's for sure - I'll have removed it before the end of the world. Whether I find great opportunities or just an end of one of the roads on the other side of that block - it doesn't really matter much. I'll still be the winner for having taken a shot at it.

One who fears failure limits his activities.
Failure is only the opportunity to more
intelligently begin again.
Henry Ford 

Falling prey to the worst excuse out there.

Came across this article a couple of days ago. 

Found some excuses I hear from people, which annoy the heck out of me at times, as well as some I tend to use myself. Can you find a bit of your attitude in it as well?

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One of the excusses I hate most, is "I didn't have time/ I don't have time" 'cause it's a straight-out lie. We all have time, if it is possible to view it as something to be possesed, that is. However, these days I am tempted to speak those words in regard to posting anything, though I try to fight the urge as much as I can. Why would I ever not have time to write?

An example of a Magu's day

1:40    Come back home from a snack and a beer out with Nahum (who finally found his way back to Warsaw after 6 years of promising to do so!).

2:40     Manage to fall asleep (even though you had been dead tired for some time, somehow falling asleep poses a problem).

6:00      Wakey wakey - it's time to communte 45mins each way to my folks' place to feed the cat (no comment).

8:30       Meet up with Nahum at the train station and get a coffee before saying goodbye and his getting on a train to Berlin.

9:30      Go to an appointment at an aesthetic center.

10:00    At a big bookstore looking through magazines and creating a list needed for the PR agency I intern for.

11:00     An interview with a lovely Thai girl for my column.

12:10   A meeting with my editor about the possibility of my running another column.

13:00   Arrive at the PR agency and discuss a few projects.

14:45   A sandwich for lunch and a power nap of 30'.

17:00   Give the Caribbean Body Movement class (they used to call my class reggaeton but they were wrong to do so).

18:15   Walk towards the second dance school for the night while making business calls connected to the corporate events organising company I work for.

19:30   Leave myself (and a couple of students who happened to be there) breathless during a Zumba class.

20:30   More business talks and calls follow.

21:20   Bless Ania for bringing me delicious rice with home made pesto - at least I don't have to cook tonight!

22:00   Wish Ania a safe flight to Liverpool (where she'll charm some more people) and welcome Karolina and Adam.

22:30   Supposedly start translating a legal doc for the Australian company I work for, but just drop dead on the bed and not be able to move, instead.

So tempted to say I'm short of time...

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.

Mary Oliver