Standing In The Darkness, Looking To The Light

Do you ever feel like the answer to all your problems was waiting for you at a certain juncture, and you looked the other way at the wrong second and zoomed right by?

We've been working doggedly on something big and I just found out that I screwed up. A non-communication turned into bad information, and that resulted in a colossal miss. Aarrrggghhhh!

As a result, I'm like a limp balloon, like something that used to have buoyancy, but that now lies crumpled on the floor. We'd been stretching ourselves to make something good happen, and I feel like I've given the best of my energies (whatever was leftover from mummy-ing all day) to produce a ginormous failure.

While in this emotionally dark trench, I have been reminding myself that although the situation seems hopeless from the present vantage-point, the passing of time often reveals such a catastrophe to be the advent of an unexpected opportunity. Plus, I have been --grudgingly, I'll admit-- inspired by various pop culture staples, such as post-breakup-"I will survive"-type songs and those terrible motivational posters that hang in places of business (you know, the ones with the statements that are one level up from what you might find in a fortune cookie).

Basically, I need to remember that ultimately what's important (and rather defining) is not the failure, but how I respond to it. Here's to hope and resilience!

If you're needing some spiritual uplifting, check out a song by one of my favourite bands, Rancid, called "If I Fall Back Down." A nice live rendition is here, and an acoustic, chilled version by singer Lights is here.