YOU ARE MORE THAN YOUR FAILURES
Perhaps more than life is about assuring us that we won’t fail, it’s about realizing that with every new morning, we are free to try again. The mere fact that we are here, on this all-new day, means that yesterday was not the end. The sunshine is proof that once again, despite all of yesterday’s unknowns, there is more to this life. There is more to you.
Failures often feel more final than they really are. An end of a storyline in your life might feel like the end of the story altogether. However, beyond the feeling, we must remember that because we can only ever see the story from our own perspective, we don’t know what all of the other characters are up to. We don’t know what other plots are developing beyond our scope of things.
Our failures don’t cancel out the possibility of new beginnings.
Our fear of the future does not mean the future is doomed.
As long as we are here, new days will find us.
Morning Light will continue to remind us, beyond our ways of thinking, there is more to see.
In one of my favorite books “On The Brink of Everything,”* Parker J. Palmer writes,
“But I do know this: once I understand that I’m not the sun, I can get out of the sun’s way and stop casting shadows. I can step aside to let the true sun shine on everyone and everything, making all things ripe with the glow of life.” - Parker J. Palmer
The way that you can begin to trust that there is more to you is by accepting that it is not all up to you to perfectly plan out every plotline in your life. And the more you are able to embrace the failures as a part of the story, the more you will begin to see that this is one narrative out of many narratives folding in and out of your life.
Think about it this way: there have been times in your life where failure meant someone’s success, and there have also been times in your life where your success meant someone else’s failure. It is possible that when you got the job, that meant, someone else didn’t. When you were admitted into the university, someone else was denied. Even romantically, two people falling in love might mean another person having to let go of the unrequited feelings they had for someone.
Our stories aren’t just our stories. They are woven in and out of countless other stories and we have no idea how every little thing will impact another little thing. This is why we have to trust. We have to trust that we are a part of a story that is so much greater than us and our moments of plot twists and unexpected character arcs are small factors in many, many parts.
If anything in your life feels like a failure in your life right now, remember the bigger picture. Remember once again, you have arrived at morning. Today is new. You have not reached the end.
Word of the Day: Trust (noun): firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something (Oxford Languages)
Journal: What feels like a beginning in your life right now?
Daily Affirmation: I will leave old things behind and make space for new things to grow.
More in this week's series called "Your Story is Not Over", only with a subscription in the Storyteller App.
Sincerely,
Morgan
@thestorytellerco
@morganharpernichols
