life

Better to fail than never try

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I watched an Olympic hopeful on Friday night, along with millions of others. Ilia Malinin took to the ice in men’s figure skating with sky high expectations from all sides. Himself, his father and coach, millions of his countrymen and women, fellow athletes and lots of media hyping and analyzing the hell out of his every move. As I watched, his first small jump seemed to land very smoothly but the next couple of them looked a little bumpy and then the horror, he fell, twice.

I felt for him as I’ve often empathized with young athletes in the highly commercialized world we live in. So much pressure, so much scrutiny, so much at stake. It must get to them sometimes, but most of the time they get through with lots of support from friends, family and mentors. Sometimes things still go wrong, despite all the time put in and all the preparation. Fortunately, Ilia, like many of his competitors and fellow Olympians, is very young and will have another chance, God willing, to reach his potential.

The lesson here for us all is to go for the gold, knowing that you may not get it. You may just miss it, or you may miss by a wide margin. While I’m sure it’s devastating to fall short in such a public way, the important thing is to just do your best and keep trying. Learn from the experience and make improvements. That’s what we all have to do throughout our lives. Failing is not fatal. Your soul is built to handle setbacks in life. It’s worth the risk to go for something big.

I sit here on my couch writing these words and think about the fact that I haven’t really gone for anything big in my life so far. I haven’t written that novel or screenplay. I haven’t given up, but I have become complacent. I’ve stopped hearing the ticking clock. While it’s never too late until you’re gone, I’m not getting any younger.

Yoda says “Do or do not. There is no try.” I guess I’m just not doing. Of course, not every thing you do can be successful, but I think what our little green friend meant is that you approach the goal with the full intention of doing it, not with a wishy washy mentality that you’re just going to put out some feelers and see if maybe there’s a chance of things working out. You just have to do it. That doesn’t mean that you couldn’t still fail, but eventually, you’ll get there. Perhaps it’s a matter of doing it again, rather than trying again. Go for the gold with full intention and your best ability and you’ll succeed. Maybe that success looks different than the top of the podium sometimes, but other opportunities for something better may result from your efforts, whatever the immediate outcome.

Go forth and be active and believe in yourself! Good things will happen.

Late January check-in

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Well, we’re almost a month into the new year. I hope everyone is doing well with your resolutions and goals and renewal stuff. I ended up being sick the first week of the month and had a delayed return to work and everything else. I’m happy to report that I’ve continued my workouts that I’ve been doing for a year and three months now and my devotional time each day and my routines. I have to admit that getting sick right off the bat and being run down for a while after that put a damper on my goal to write more, but I’ve done a little journaling. And here I am back to the blog. I’d like to stake the claim that I’ve remained quite busy at a cellular level. 😉 It’s an oldie but a goodie as far as excuses go.

I’ve also taken my own advice and done a little minor redecorating and tweaking decor as the decorations came down over a couple of weekends. And I’m still working on that. Photos will follow. Speaking of photos, that’s one of the decor tweaks I’ve done. I’ve gathered quite a few photo frames over the years from my thrift shop trips and I’ve always been into photography, starting with my first camera, a trusty old Kodak disc camera. So, I’ve put out some of the many winter scene photos from the creek behind the house where I grew up and other seasonal shots. I also simply moved some things from an unnoticed corner or shelf to a more prominent place, creating a new look. You can do that when you have a lot of thrift shop knick knacks to work with.

Like much of the U.S., I spent yesterday digging out from a snowstorm. That left little time or energy for much else. I’d say that’s a good excuse for not writing. The important thing is to keep making the effort. So, back to normal today. I suppose one good thing about being sick at the start of the year is that I feel like the beginning of the second month is a chance to do a renew redo. It’s a chance to recapture the renewal feeling since I didn’t really get going the first time around. Wish me luck as mother nature unleashes the harshest winter in years. May all the writers and artists take advantage of time indoors this season!

On a lighter note, I hope the handlers on Feb. 2nd outfit Punxatawny Phil with a bullet proof vest because if he doesn’t give the answer people want this year, someone may take a shot at him. This is Pennsylvania, after all. Just kidding. But really, that’s not so bad, that we’re almost to Groundhog Day already. That’s one of the few Bill Murray movies I like. What would you do if you had to repeat one day over and over? Like Murray’s character, you could see it as a blessing or a curse. You’d have a lot of time to learn new things and make discoveries in the world around you, but that would be the most epically challenging situation to find ways to feel rejuvenated or renewed! Would you savor the extra time, or get bored out of your gourd? It’s an intriguing idea. I think we all kind of have that choice throughout our lives. It’s the essence of getting what you want out of life. It’s what you make it.

I think I may have to expound on this subject. Till then, keep writing and keep renewing!

P.S. Speaking of new things, the image above is AI generated and the first time I’ve ever used one.

2/11/26 A further thought on the Groundhog Day part: I think the worst part of repeating the same day would be not being able to say the best is yet to come. Will I achieve the best I can be? Realize my biggest dreams? Will any of us? We don’t know. But every new day is a chance to find out. A chance to strive for our best life. And if you feel you have seen the best days, that’s great that you had that! Now you can focus on encouraging, inspiring and guiding others to the best days.

Light Friday Nights

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What used to be. What yet might be.

Light and quiet is fine for now for a guy in his mid 50’s. I miss the regular outings of just a few years ago, and the semi regular game nights, and the occasional movie outings, the free outdoor concerts of the summer, and even the Sci-Fi Friday lineup of old with my bro.

Life is always changing. People get busy, change jobs, fall in and out of grace, and grow apart. Going out is also so much more expensive than it used to be. For a while, the thrift shop after work and then my workout in my basement gym followed by grilling and deck time was the routine. Now, it seems no one is available, and I’m too tired to find anything on Netflix. The night falls quickly and my energy fades quicker still.

On the upside, I’m up earlier on Saturday and there’s always something to do with the house if I’m not going out anywhere. And, either Saturday or Sunday is Mom visit day, so the weekend is quickly filled up no matter what.

Sometimes, it feels like a funny magnet I found at a local festival this year: “Another fine day ruined by adulthood.” It’s true that life gets harder and fuller of responsibilities and obligations as you get older, but you also learn that your life and your actions, your thoughts and feelings have intrinsic value even if no one seems to notice or appreciate you. It’s called independence.

It’s harder to get a couple or few friends together when you’re over 40 or over 50, but you value the times you have together, even if they’re less frequent.

Recently, I’ve done things on weeknights which I’ve been avoiding for years since I get up pretty stinking early for work. Turns out, I can still do it. as long as I pace myself through the week. Feel like I need a wink emoji after that. Sounds kind of sad, but I’m making the effort. I’m living my life. I’m still standing and I’m looking ahead while still taking care of the immediacies.

The Holy Spirit, or the Universe, however you think of it, will sustain you as long as you do the best you can and be true to yourself. So keep up the good work, my good folks.