Let’s start this month off with a lame excuse. I dropped off the face of the earth due to what I’m calling “adult responsibilities,” but I’m gonna be honest with ya. Adult responsibilities is just a fancy way of saying “procrastination.”

To be fair, I did just move to a new (old) state, and moving sucks. I kinda copped out and went back to the motherland — Michigan.

I left the mitten state after graduating college, tried to create something of myself, failed, then moved back to the exact city I swore I’d never return to. It feels like I’m starting all over again.

But I’m not. Because even when it seems like you’re taking two steps back, or you feel like you made it so far, only to be dragged back to the start, you’re never really “starting all over again.” With failure comes lessons learned. Lessons that will ultimately lead you to success.

Part of the fear of failure is thinking about what would happen afterward. If I don’t reach this goal, what will happen to me? How will this make me look? Will I ever be able to achieve my dreams?

We don’t tend to think about the good that comes from failure: reflection. Take time to think about what happened. I know it’s hard, but seeing everything laid out in front of you will allow you to rearrange the missteps to construct a new path. A path to lead you to success.

So here’s to August. As it signals the end of summer, let it also signal the end of us doubting ourselves and being afraid to take that next step.

⇒ Also here’s a playlist. As a rule, I never include multiple tracks from the same artist, but I made a judgement call this month and threw two songs from The Band CAMINO in there because they deserve the extra attention.

Until next month’s ramble,

Nicole.

Featured image courtesy of Pixabay.