Failing

There is no shortage of examples of people failing. There are no shortages of examples of times when you have failed.

Failing is the nasty part of living that we try our hardest to avoid but always end up cruelly meeting. 

But knowing that people fail should change the way we view the fallen, right? I could never bring myself to say that we should just "get over it" when people fail because failure brings hurt into our lives. We have placed a basic trust in our fellow humans - whether in leadership or not - that once its violated it just leaves an emptiness that, well, that is somewhat difficult to describe. But based on our own experience shouldn't we have expected it?

Let me answer that question: No.

We should never expect people to fail us for it is that hope of success that drives humanity forward. The hope of a successful marriage is what allows us to forgive our spouses again. The hope that the next President isn't going to lie is what propels to vote again. The hope that the next time we won't get hurt is what leads us to take the chance of the next time.

My English teacher always spoke of the "willing suspension of disbelief".  It was what allowed the reader to believe in the story despite some unrealistic propositions. Its like believing that Rappunzel's scalp was actually strong enough to hold a persons weight without any pain at all. You rationally know its not true but you release your rights to rational thought for benefit of the story.

Expectations are kind of the same way. You know that someone is going to hurt you but you willingly release the thought for just the chance that the story turns out to be grand. And its worth mentioning that we must be able to release the doubts we have about ourselves as well. We know we will fail and mess up. But the next time you have to release that thought so that maybe, just maybe it turns out different this time.

Without that maybe life is pretty boring and actually not worth putting forth any effort. But maybe gives us hope that this time might be better. This time I'll fall in love. This leader will lead us to the promised land. This story is worth seeing how it ends.