Learning from Failure: Wisdom of the Flying Squirrel

Okay, so I'm going to try something here.

I've been planning on making videos for a while and posting them on YouTube, and there's this huge temptation to make it perfect:

Have a perfect script.

Be profound with that specific meaningful core, which I will convey to everybody and “wow” the world, be absolutely amazing, and…

Who wants that kind of pressure?

Instead, I'm going try an experiment: over the next month: I'm going to make one video a week, post it to YouTube, and see what comes from it.

Is it gonna be great all the time?

No.

Are there going to be some times when I stutter and stammer?

Yup.

But I learned something last week that totally blew my mind, and I like to share it with you. Y’know those videos of flying squirrels that leap off of the top of a tree and spread their legs wide to stretch their skin taught so it looks like they're flying? Well, they’re sort of flying; in reality, they are falling with grace because they’ve learned to use their tail as a rudder so they can steer themselves toward a tree branch as they sail through the air. They don’t catch themselves every single time; they miss their goal about half the time, just go flying through the air, gracefully sailing past their goal, into the nothingness of the unknown. With each experience of missing their goal, they learn something.

They have learned how to fall.

Through practice and experience, they've transformed the falling through the void into flying through the air, sailing gracefully knowing that with each experience, they learn a little more.

So, I’m going to climb up to the top of this tree, take a look around, find a goal, and leap.

I will learn from my failures, probably have some successes along the way. But more than anything else, if I am lucky and I pay attention, I may discover a whole lot along the way.

You are welcome to join me in this journey: I’m Kathrin Gabriel-Jones. I’m an Encouragement Coach, who, having climbed up to the top branch of a tree will now attempt to leap into the void in order to sail through the air and hopefully catch a branch.

Let’s see what happens.

I'm really glad to have you with me.

Kathrin