
Which is worse? Failing or never trying? This question used to be so simple. The answer seemed so obvious. Never trying would be the worse choice of course. Now, I look at it slightly differently. I still feel that never trying is still the worst choice someone can make for the most part. However, I could understand if someone said failing. The older I get the more I see the gray in everything. Everything is not black and white. We all have different situations.
For me, never trying would leave me with a buttload of what ifs and I hate what ifs. I have a few what ifs from many years ago that still haunt me to this day, and I told myself that I would try to go for what I truly wanted and not let things slip by me out of fear. On the other hand, sometimes “trying” can take up a lot of your time. We can try to make something happen so bad that we get so obsessed with it, only to look up and all of a sudden 5 to 10 years have passed and you’re still not be where you thought you would be. What if after 10 years you’ve realized that you have failed, and you start to think about the time and energy that could’ve been put into something else. Some people have lost relationships and missed out on moments that they could never get back due to following their dreams. Some people have gained more heartache trying to work on a relationship that never panned out. No one wants to look back and say I wish I would’ve gone for my dreams, or I wish I would’ve fought more for my relationship/marriage. I also don’t want to say I wish I would’ve given up sooner and just got a 9 to 5, I could’ve built up a nice 401k by now. Or I wish I would’ve let go and moved on from that relationship sooner so we both could’ve been happier years ago. It’s a risk either way you look at it.
Whether you’re trying for your dream career or trying in a relationship the outcome can go either way, so what makes the risk worth it? What tips the scale? For me, it’s hope and blind faith. I have to believe that things happen for a reason. I don’t want my choices to haunt me, but I have to believe that my time won’t be wasted. As scary as it seems, I want to believe that even if things don’t pan out the way that I hope it will still lead me to where I should be. Who knows, maybe it’s something even better than I ever could imagine. It’s a gamble, and it requires trust. We have to trust ourselves and the decisions that we make, but we can’t operate out of fear. We have to go by what we think is right for us and hopefully we end up making the right choice. If we do fail, let’s hope that failure leads us to something even greater. So, cheers to everyone trying! I wish you the best outcome!