Talk Bowie to Your Bad Self
Triumpher of Today
Today, you triumphed.
You did one of the things you had to do.
Maybe it was a big thing, like having a difficult convo.
Maybe it was a “small thing” ( I use air quotes because WTF, quantifying words? You don’t know my life) like making your bed or brushing your teeth.
Maybe you wanted to do the thing, and maybe you didn’t want to do it.
Either way, you did it.
Do you know what this means?
You’re a success!
Not sure about that? Well, the Oxford Dictionary says you are—and I trust the Oxford Dictionary with my life. WITH MY LIFE.
Look!
suc·cess
/səkˈses/
the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.
ARCHAIC
the good or bad outcome of an undertaking.
According to the Oxford Dictionary (and, by proxy, according to its defacto hype-man David Bowie), the word “success” historically didn’t just refer to the accomplishment of something…but also the good OR bad outcome of the attempt!
Take away point: SUCCESS = GOOD OR BAD ATTEMPTS.
Sure, we view success as getting a thing done (and it is). But today try to remember that really incredibe “good” outcomes almost always come with a loooooooot of bad attempts.
Fun Fact: I actually wrote part of this ANNIEGRAM on Wednesday for the Mid-Week Wordspell. It was basically just a short little missive telling you that you were a success because you did a thing.
Then, the next morning, I went to go look and see if there were any comments or replies. And there weren’t. Because I had never sent/posted it.
OOF. NOT a “successful” outcome. And I coulda been like this:
But, instead, I mind-shrugged and decided to send it today— with added words and extra encouragement and some completely Bowie-fied goodness.
Because, honest to God, life is too short to be mean to ourselves about making mistakes.
So go ahead and tell that voice in your head that sneers “you could have done better” to STFU, already.
Say aloud “No thank you, sir or madam” to your inner lizard-brain who whines that success has to be almost absolute perfection or scaling a metaphorical Mt. Everest or composing a world-changing sonnet or whatever.
Kick your comparison critic to the curb, celebrate your small successes today, and remember that sometimes you gotta take some rough landings when you’re soaring through life.
Frickin’ hold your head up high, Triumpher of Today. It’s what Bowie would want.
XO,
Annie B.
THREE GOOD THINGS
I found the bad-ass IDGAF bird image above by Googling “I triumph at life!” and stumbled upon this PBS documentary.
Recently my friend Tony sent me this and said “Don’t take this the wrong way, because I say this with the deepest possible affection and goodwill, but this made me think of you.” So, please enjoy for your entertainment. (Am I…AN AMAZING DISASTER???)
One of my fave, creamy, easy, super-satisfying soups: African Peanut Stew. NOM!