What would you do if no one said you couldn’t?

My daughter is 13 months old, and she is fiercely independent.  I cannot overemphasize the “fierceness” part of that.  She wants to do everything on her own these days, and much of it is still beyond her capability.  As long as it’s not dangerous, we usually let her try.  How else does a child learn, after all?

Today we went to the park, and she headed straight for a structure with an “L” shaped set of steps leading up to the slides.  In her enthusiasm, she didn’t see the first two steps, and she headed straight for step three at the bend in the “L.”  The edge came up to her chest, and I didn’t think there was any possibility she could climb it.  I tried to lead her around the corner to the first step, but she insisted on doing it her way.

She dug her little fingers into the grooves on the platform and lifted her right leg as high as she could.  Somehow she managed to get her heel up on the ledge.  Then she pulled with her arms using all of her might and wiggled back and forth until, sure enough, she made it all the way up.  I was thoroughly impressed.  Later she wandered over to the “big kid” play structure, where all the steps are high, and she continued to defy my expectations.

As I watched and reflected, I was glad I hadn’t stopped her from trying.  My fears of her falling and hurting herself popped into my head, of course, so I stayed close, but I didn’t hold her back.

It made me think…what have other people told me I can’t do?  What have I started but quit because someone else discouraged me?  What have I dreamed of but never tried out of fear of failure?

Failure is only such when you don’t learn from it.  Otherwise it’s just a stepping stone to the next adventure, an important lesson that helps you do things better in the future.  That’s easier said than done, but we must remember that most of this world’s greatest advances involved some “failure” along the way.

Besides, what if, like my daughter, you don’t fail at all?  What if you surprise everyone and succeed?  You’ll never know if you don’t try.

Press on with courage, my friends.

Photo Credit: Will van Wingerden, https://unsplash.com/@willvanw