There is no failure ... except in not trying

During last year, I finally accepted that fear of failure was holding me back.  Not the rational fear of injury or death or hurting someone else, but rather the stupid, irrational fear of not succeeding, of looking silly or not being as good at something as I thought I was.  So I made myself a promise (acknowledgements to @Mountaincaro and the Project Mountain blog for some of the wording) :

 "I’m going to try things and fail. For it’s only by failure that we learn where our limits are, and push those limits. Fear and failure make us stronger, and not being afraid to fail helps us get better at whatever it is we are seeking to do. So – I’ll abandon the warm coziness of my comfort zone, I'll abandon a job I hate and which enriches nobody's life - least of all mine - I'll try and climb harder and fall off (safely!) more, I'll run, bike and walk for longer, talk to more people and no doubt get ignored by more, try to do work that brings a genuine smile to people or at least enriches them in some way whilst making me smile too ... and if I fail I’ll pick myself up and try and work out how to do better next time. If I’m scared it might not work out I’ll ask myself what’s the worst that can happen and if that worst is unlikely to be life-threatening or cause harm to others,  then I’ll try and push myself forward. I won’t always succeed, but I'll learn and be a better, happier person for the experience."

So far, it's been a good start,  but no doubt - nay hopefully  - plenty more challenges to come throughout this year .... but whatever happens, at least I'll feel alive :-)