anxiety

Failure Doesn’t Suck

Two comments from Sir James Dyson that resonate with me:

I don’t mind failure. I’ve always thought that schoolchildren should be marked by the number of failures they’ve had. The child who tries strange things and experiences lots of failures to get there is probably more creative.

We’re taught to do things the right way. But if you want to discover something that other people haven’t, you need to do things the wrong way. Initiate a failure by doing something that’s very silly, unthinkable, naughty, dangerous. Watching why that fails can take you on a completely different path. It’s exciting, actually. To me, solving problems is a bit like a drug. You’re on it, and you can’t get off. I spent seven years on our washing machine [which has two drums, instead of one].

In general, I don’t think we (as society) appreciate and accept failure as much as we should, or maybe we just mislabel them (i.e. call things failures that should be called something else).

Learning how (and when) to fail gracefully and with pride (instead of shame) has been a tough element to learn. However, I’ve found that being okay with failing has lots rewards that make me a happier person, in particular because I’m not as anxious anymore.

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Ticket #9540124 is a Winner!

While the Colorado School of Mines isn’t sponsoring the event (as the Obama campaign paid for the use of the facility), Student Activities was able to get a hold of and raffle off 140 tickets to students this morning. On a whim, I put my name in the hat. And I won.

Ticket #9540124 is a winner!

But wait, didn’t you just write a scathing letter to the CSM president despising him for allowing this event to happen? you might ask.

I did. And I stand by that letter. However, when life gives me lemons, I try my damnedest to make lemonade. It’s an old cliché, but usually true. Tomorrow morning, I will be putting on my photography/press hat and taking pictures for the Oredigger, making the best of the circumstances.

It’s also worth nothing that a large part of my decision and ability to do this is the fact that my first class was canceled, which will help to alleviate some of the stress and anxiety of tomorrows hoopla. It’s still going to be crazy though.

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The Situation

This is a follow up to this mornings incident. This is what the situation seems to be:

The Lady-Downstairs is hearing noises, but can’t identify what they might be. She says it sounds like a printer. I’m upstairs going about my businesses in a reduced fashion in order to be as quiet as possible. He’s the frustrating part, her statements are so vague and inaccurate that A) I don’t know what she’s talking about, or B) She complaining about something that I have the perfect right to do. Either way, I can’t do anything about it.

My hands are tied and she’s bitching and complaining about it.

I have less then 3 months left in this apartment. I’m contemplating considering moving out, I don’t know where. Maybe a hotel or something if they’d cut me a deal. I really can’t have any more of these knocking incidents as they keep me up longer then I want to and cause me great stress, frustration, and anxiety.

As it turned out, I did end up skipping my first three classes today. Mostly due to lack of sleep, also due to the fact that I am sick. I also email my circuits professor and he’s agreeable to let me take the makeup circuits exam next week. That will help with the stress and anxiety of today and tomorrow.

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