Monday, November 25, 2024
Have you ever thought of yourself as a failure? I thought I was, but I have rethought that concept. OK, at one level, I am failing. My heart is failing. My lungs are failing. My body is failing. Even things in the universe are failing. The sun is failing. The universe itself is failing, meaning it’s on its way to the end of its life. So, I guess, at one level I am a failure. But, since failure seems built in, wouldn’t it be impossible to fail in the way we think of it?
My heart has a specific number of pumps programmed into it. My lungs have a specific number of breaths programmed into them. I have a number of years programmed into me. If our lungs and heart and body inevitably expire, then failure is built into the software. They are supposed to fail. Failing means that a specified event doesn’t happen. Failing in that sense would mean bodily immortality, right? Even if you make an F on an exam, or you’ve been stood up at the altar, you haven’t failed. You’re still breathing.
When your body fails, and you’re not able to breathe anymore, people say that you’ve passed. Wait. If you’ve passed at the end of your life, does it mean you haven’t failed? Nobody fails death – we all pass. You mean I am always a success, even in death? You’ve been set up to fail, so I guess it’s all successful. Ultimately, no-one can be a failure then. Success for the win.