Failure

I never lose, I either win or I learn.

-Nelson Mandela

@gettyimage

I’m not sure how everyone else is feeling, but I personally feel as if I’m in a large transition and it’s…interesting to navigate, to say the least. 😅It could be our political climate, the influence of social media, the phases of the moon, it could be my age. Not sure the reasoning, but there’s a large shift happening and the truth is, it doesn’t just seem to be a me thing.

The word on the street is that we’ve very recently –as of 2/17/26– left the Year of the Snake and have entered the Year of the Fire Horse during the Chinese New Year. As we continue stepping into this Fire Horse energy (because it apparently doesn’t happen overnight, much to my shegren), it is inevitable to leave behind the previous year, but not before the snake sheds its skin. 

In order to move forward, we must leave that which does not serve us behind. Sometimes this feels like liberation and new birth, and sometimes the shedding of things can leave us feeling like a failure. Is it something you’ve been trying for long enough and still just isn’t working out? Is it an endeavor that’s been too costly, whether financially, energetically, or otherwise? Is it a relationship? A job? A friend? A belief system? What are you leaving behind?

Hot take: IT’S OK TO FAIL!

The root word is there. You have failed, sure, but YOU are not a failure (unless, I guess, you choose to see yourself that way in which, have at it, it just isn’t very nice.)

Google’s first definition of Fail is “be unsuccessful in achieving one’s goal.” At first glance it still seems a little harsh (for me, at least) but the light is in the fact that “goal” is singular.

If you were unsuccessful at this ONE goal, this does not make you a failure! This makes you a human…with an opportunity. Much like what Nelson Mandela said. You can either try again with different tactics and resources keeping in mind what you’ve learned from this failed attempt, or you can choose to release the goal. Either way, you are not a failure. Failures do not exist, only people making choices and exploring possibilities do!

So I encourage us all to continue showing up, to continue choosing, DARING TO FAIL and not to be afraid to release or walk away when the time has come.

Happy Being!