I was afraid of failure. It was a cloud following me around, lurking in the shadows, waiting for its opportunity to bring me down. It wouldn't go away. Why did I fear failure? It might have something to do with the fact that society labels failure as bad, dirty, unacceptable, humiliating, and a hand-written invitation to social doom. Still not entirely sure, but my fear probably originated from one or more of the above.

Failing isn't that bad. It's how we learn things like, what to eat, where to live, who to date, what kind of music we enjoy, etc. If I try listening to death metal, and it doesn't work out, great, one less genre to worry about. The more you fail, the more you learn (assuming you don't keep making the same mistakes). If you can't stand the thought of failing you're not learning as much as you should. You're forming habits that will cause you to be close-minded and less knowledgeable.

I fail all the time. I almost look forward to it now, because if I'm still failing, I know I'm trying and pushing my limits. Fail therapy can be life changing. Once you're willing to get over the fear of "failing" your world opens up. Mine has. I feel great. I definitely can't do everything, but to not try, that's failure.

Just show up. If you fail, no problem, I'll be just as happy to hear about what you learned in the process. Who knows, maybe you'll surprise yourself, maybe you'll succeed at something you would've otherwise been too afraid to try. The fear of failure won't go away completely. As Seth Godin says, you just need to "learn to dance with it." Happy failing.