Rise and Fall, Live and Learn

"Do something today that reflects who you are, what you are capable of, what you care about. Give yourself plenty of evidence of what you can do, and you will not doubt your abilities to do anything." ~David Niven

There are things I want to do. There are things I am interested in but have never pursued. There are things that I have a slight hunch I might have potential to be good at, but that I never work at because I don’t think I will ever be great at them.

And so I wonder.

And I dream.

And I think, “What if…?”

But that’s not the way I want my daughter to live. While she is still very young, I know she’s watching me already. I know she’s learning from me, and frankly, I don’t want her to learn self-doubt and insecurity from me. I want her to learn to dream and strive and, yes, to fail. I want her to learn that it’s not the end of the world if she’s not the best in the world at something, but that it is a very real tragedy if she allows the fear of imperfection to keep her from trying.

And so I, her mother, have promised myself that if I want to try something, I will do it. I will try it, and if I fall flat on my face, I’ll survive and move on. I’ll learn from my attempts, whether they end in success or failure, because whatever the outcome, what I do not want her to learn from me is self-doubt.

O Lord, you alone are my hope. I’ve trusted you, O Lord, from childhood. (Psalm 71:5)