"You may mess up..."
November 6, 2015
G.D.O'Bradovich III
You may mess up, but you are not your mess ups.
You may make a mistake, but you are not a mistake.
You may screw up, but you are not a screw up.
You may fail, but you are not a failure.
You are not your downfalls.
You may make a mistake, but you are not a mistake.
You may screw up, but you are not a screw up.
You may fail, but you are not a failure.
You are not your downfalls.
1
Inspirational messages similar to the above are common occurrences on social media. By clicking “Like”, we not agreeing with or liking such posts, only acknowledging that we've read it. For the moment, let us agree that we are not our failures or downfalls and follow this premise to its conclusion. If one is not described by one's “mess ups” or “mistakes”, that is, negative words and connotations can not be used, then one can only be described by using positive words. Regardless of reality, one can only be called a success or an accomplished individual. This can not be the intent of this message, as individuals are no longer defined by extremes, but are only defined by the middle, where the middle is neither failure nor success, but existence; where we understand there is a fundamental difference between “living” and “existing”.
We agree that an individual's worth is neither their efforts nor their intentions and their dignity is anterior to their accomplishments. If we can not, or should not, describe people in terms of their short comings nor by their achievements, then how do we differentiate the few noble spirits from the majority of the mediocre and from the not unknown decadent? In a word, how do we distinguish virtue from vice?
We agree that an individual's worth is neither their efforts nor their intentions and their dignity is anterior to their accomplishments. If we can not, or should not, describe people in terms of their short comings nor by their achievements, then how do we differentiate the few noble spirits from the majority of the mediocre and from the not unknown decadent? In a word, how do we distinguish virtue from vice?
The over examined life is not worth living.
Plato
Per Webster's Third International Dictionary, success is to “achieve or complete successfully” and an excursion to the grocer to buy a gallon of milk can be described as a “success”. Regretfully, we do not know anyone who would triumphantly and seriously declare “Success!” upon returning from a grocery store. If our experience is an indication of the mindset of most people, they do not attribute “success” to mundane tasks, but only difficult and rare accomplishments. Hence, we conclude that people have a hierarchy of values, even if they have not pondered the full implication of these values for all situations and circumstances. We now must determine the definition of success as understood by society and for the individual.
The culmination of the Cub Scouts is the awarding of the “Arrow of Light” and we succeeded in acquiring my “Lighting Bolt of Jove”. [Research into the tripartite division of scouting into Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, and Venturing may prove interesting for an aspiring Apprentice.] From our perspective, achieving the Arrow was inevitable and we do not consider this an accomplishment of any worth, yet we have no ill feelings towards the Cub Scouts and, therefore, we must concluded that, on some level, we enjoyed Scouting, or perhaps we were indifferent to our experiences in the Cub Scouts, as we did not pursue the Boy Scouts. Regardless of whether we enjoyed it or was indifferent, we will still donate to the Scouts on the rare occasion when engaged by a well spoken youth, especially when they are strategically positioned at the entrances of a certain large retailer...
Society regards High School graduation as an accomplishment, but like the Arrow of Light, it was, and is, the inevitable result of staying in school and doing the assigned work in a timely manner. Similar to Scouting, we are indifferent towards my Alma Mater and only returned when Apprentice Thomas' sister graduated. [I don't recall attending Apprentice Thomas' graduation, so I am inclined to believe that I did not attend.] We would not have attended a football game after high school, had former/future Apprentice Brock not relocated and joined the team. We went to the first game in fulfillment of a vow, but we don't know if my three subsequent appearances at the stadium were motivated by our support for him, or our enjoyment of the game. Regardless, we do know that there was no vicarious longing of missed opportunities from our youth on our part, since, even as of this late writing, we do not understand the game.
From the preceding paragraphs, it must be painfully obvious that we do not understand why certain awards and participation in certain events are valued by so many. For those of use who understand the success of gettin' a gallon of milk and receiving a High School diploma as being on equal footing, that is, on the lowest rung of the ladder of accomplishments, we can only offer a shrug of indifference when we hear either story. As always, the ultimate value must be left to the Gentle Reader to judge for himself.
Ultimately, in order to correctly determine success or failure, we must ignore effort, intentions, hopes, and wishes and focus only upon what is, in fact, accomplished or successfully completed. Therefore, while high school recognition, home ownership, creating a business, and progressing through various levels of management can be understood as success by the vast majority of people, a notable minority will not appreciate these accomplishments as worthy, but the inevitable result of possessing a cosmopolitan world view; for this list of successes can not be the end, but only steps to higher and rarer goals. Therefore, we are in a position to declare success or failure and this position is not based on the vulgar view or understanding, but based on reason and objective reality.
Unlike the “feel good” and thoughtless message that introduced this essay, we declare that we are a failure. This conclusion is based on the personal experience of the previous three decades of a continual parade of more frequent and deeper failures and of fewer instances of success, where we correctly understand success as a step for further accomplishments, not the maintenance of the status quo. Since permanent success has been absent, we are not in a position, nor can we ever be in a position, to reach any accomplishments worthy of mention.
The culmination of the Cub Scouts is the awarding of the “Arrow of Light” and we succeeded in acquiring my “Lighting Bolt of Jove”. [Research into the tripartite division of scouting into Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, and Venturing may prove interesting for an aspiring Apprentice.] From our perspective, achieving the Arrow was inevitable and we do not consider this an accomplishment of any worth, yet we have no ill feelings towards the Cub Scouts and, therefore, we must concluded that, on some level, we enjoyed Scouting, or perhaps we were indifferent to our experiences in the Cub Scouts, as we did not pursue the Boy Scouts. Regardless of whether we enjoyed it or was indifferent, we will still donate to the Scouts on the rare occasion when engaged by a well spoken youth, especially when they are strategically positioned at the entrances of a certain large retailer...
Society regards High School graduation as an accomplishment, but like the Arrow of Light, it was, and is, the inevitable result of staying in school and doing the assigned work in a timely manner. Similar to Scouting, we are indifferent towards my Alma Mater and only returned when Apprentice Thomas' sister graduated. [I don't recall attending Apprentice Thomas' graduation, so I am inclined to believe that I did not attend.] We would not have attended a football game after high school, had former/future Apprentice Brock not relocated and joined the team. We went to the first game in fulfillment of a vow, but we don't know if my three subsequent appearances at the stadium were motivated by our support for him, or our enjoyment of the game. Regardless, we do know that there was no vicarious longing of missed opportunities from our youth on our part, since, even as of this late writing, we do not understand the game.
From the preceding paragraphs, it must be painfully obvious that we do not understand why certain awards and participation in certain events are valued by so many. For those of use who understand the success of gettin' a gallon of milk and receiving a High School diploma as being on equal footing, that is, on the lowest rung of the ladder of accomplishments, we can only offer a shrug of indifference when we hear either story. As always, the ultimate value must be left to the Gentle Reader to judge for himself.
Ultimately, in order to correctly determine success or failure, we must ignore effort, intentions, hopes, and wishes and focus only upon what is, in fact, accomplished or successfully completed. Therefore, while high school recognition, home ownership, creating a business, and progressing through various levels of management can be understood as success by the vast majority of people, a notable minority will not appreciate these accomplishments as worthy, but the inevitable result of possessing a cosmopolitan world view; for this list of successes can not be the end, but only steps to higher and rarer goals. Therefore, we are in a position to declare success or failure and this position is not based on the vulgar view or understanding, but based on reason and objective reality.
Unlike the “feel good” and thoughtless message that introduced this essay, we declare that we are a failure. This conclusion is based on the personal experience of the previous three decades of a continual parade of more frequent and deeper failures and of fewer instances of success, where we correctly understand success as a step for further accomplishments, not the maintenance of the status quo. Since permanent success has been absent, we are not in a position, nor can we ever be in a position, to reach any accomplishments worthy of mention.