Week #358 – Sign up to fail!

Today is my partner James’ birthday! And do you know what I did?!

I signed him up to fail!

Let me explain: last year around this time, I gave Jim the gift of a lesson. A tennis lesson. In short, I signed him up to learn.

And after a year of consistent practice, regular play on the public courts, and more than a few lessons — it was time to take it a step further.

I signed him up for a tournament! And the moment I signed him up…I sent him the confirmation with the words: “Sh*t just got real!”

That’s because tournament play isn’t practice, and it isn’t play. It’s a single-elimination, every-point-matters, win-or-lose battle to the finals. And in singles tennis, there’s only one winner.

Game. Set. Match.

Given that it was Jim’s first tournament and he’d only been taking lessons and practicing for a year, while anything was indeed possible — it was a pretty safe bet that he wouldn’t make it all the way to the finals.

But the finals wasn’t the point.

What I signed him up for was competition. You see, playing at the public court is great…but there’s no score. There’s no stakes. There’s no leaderboard or bracket. What there is…is always another game.

But in tournaments, there isn’t. There is a loser. Every time. And that puts a little bit of pressure on things. Because it makes things more serious, more focused, more intense, more “real.”

And that’s not a bad thing. Because in the end, Jim said that it really sharpened his skills. See, constant practice and play seems disciplined…but it’s easy (at least for him). Putting skills to the test is hard. It’s signing up to fail, which requires something different than practice and play…it requires persistence!

And that’s a whole different tool in the tennis bag!

Your Happyness Challenge for the Week Ahead: Sign up to fail! Have you created a lifestyle or routine that ensures you will always come out even or ahead? Oh man, do I feel this! Because I, too, work really damn hard at keeping all my plates spinning just so. But how do we know how many plates we can really spin unless we test the boundary and break a few once in a while, right?! As you move through your week (and as I move through mine)…let’s look for areas, activities, endeavors, or outreach where we can afford to come up short a few times. And if this thought absolutely terrifies you (because it does me), it’s probably worth trying!

You don’t have the roll the dice on something catastrophic…pick something inconsequential, something you know you can recover from, and give failure a try!

Sign up to fail!

Spread Happyness – tell me, where can you “sign up to fail” this week?

7/23/21 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com