Failing Spectacularly

This past weekend, I participated in the 24 in 48 Readathon: I joined legions of readers and we all challenged ourselves to read 24 out of the 48 hours of the weekend.

Spending half of the weekend reading sounds like heaven.

And also like a lot of work.

Let me tell you, I had a LOT on my plate this weekend. Wedding showers and birthday parties to attend. Errands to run. Dogs to walk….

But, like I discussed last week, there is no perfect time to sit down and get to it, whether it’s reading for a certain amount of time or writing every day or finally sending the wedding thank you notes (note to self: DO THAT SOON). And so, when I heard about the 24 in 48 Challenge, I knew I would try it before even consulting my agenda.

And I failed spectacularly. I barely read 6 hours, let alone the namesake goal of 24.

But, like after most spectacular fails, I discovered something. It wasn’t a lack of time that derailed me from hitting that goal. It was a lack of endurance. I haven’t held myself to dedicated reading time in my real life for quite a while, and this fail opened the curtain on that fact and allows me to decide if and how I want to deal with it.

(Oh, I’m definitely going to deal with it…)

Like most things in life, it wasn’t whether I won or lost this challenge that mattered, it was that I showed up to begin with and learned something through the process. Because really, showing up is half the battle of getting to where you want to go, and learning is the entire battle when you find yourself falling short.

And even when you achieve your goals? Well, life keeps moving right along and all that showing up and lesson learning will hopefully come into play then because, as a really cool Nike t-shirt reminded me: there is no finish line.

So the lesson here, as it usually is, is this: whether or not you’re prepared, show up to your goals. It’s the only way to learn how to proceed, how to eventually succeed, and what to do after success is yours.

And in this crazy book writing business, I hear the knock downs make the final stretch all that much sweeter.