failure

I’m going to show why the definition of failure that society has today is not the true definition, and I’m also going to show you why failure is not possible when you set out to try something new.

First lets start with society today. Society today tells us that when you start something you need to finish it, and if you don’t, then you are a quitter, and we all know that quitters are failures. Recently, I have decided to challenge this idea, why are people called quitters when they decide not to finish something?

key to success

What happened to adventure? What happened to exploring? If I didn’t know what I liked, I would start selecting various paths in life that I felt drawn to, like gardening, for example. If I felt drawn to plants and gardening, then I would start buying certain items I knew I was going to need, but what if I started gardening and decided I didn’t like all the work, is this really quitting or is it just realizing that gardening is not for me?

The true definition of failure is not doing anything. Yes, it is as simple as that. Lets go back to my gardening example, if I did something wrong, and all my tomato plants died, did I fail? No, I still got up and tried, and I also found a handy way to kill plants, and that will help me in the future so I can avoid doing that again.

When a person gets involved in nature and permaculture, it is really important to remember that you are never a failure, even if your plants or trees die. You got up and did something, if you kept a journal, then you know a great way to not plant them next time. When I read Masanobu Fukuoka’s book ‘Sowing Seeds in the Desert’, I read that he would normally just throw the seeds out and where they grew was where they were meant to grow, he never worried about the ones that didn’t grow. Masanobu knew that nature would flourish no matter what, so don’t worry about things not working out the way you planned, nature is very forgiving.

Here is a simple list to let you know if you are failing at permaculture, or life in general,
1. Not doing anything. This is pretty self-explanatory.
2. Not doing anything. Wow, did this make it on the list again?
3. Not doing anything. Isn’t anything else going on this list?

I said it three times, hoping you would get the point, there is no such thing as failure when you try, failure is a title reserved for those who sit and do nothing.

Adventure is waiting.

So, next time you try anything, remember that you cannot fail, and if you don’t like it and decide to stop, don’t worry about it, you are still not a failure or a quitter. You are a seeker, and an adventurer!