I See Your Failure, and Raise You...

 I failed today.  It was a little failure, but it caught someone's attention.

I rode hard today.  Pushed myself while riding my unicycle, and my legs got tired.  That usually ends up in a fall, which it did.  Down to my knees, side tuck roll, a little scrape.  The car driving up behind me had a clear view of my failure, and stopped to make sure I was ok.  After numerous assurances that I was fine, they drove off.  I do wonder if I ever make someone's facebook post:  "Saw an old man fall off a unicycle today.  Buying a dashcam tonight."

While writing my "Mantra..." blog, I wondered about that failure.  I wondered when was the last time someone saw me fail, and not just falling off of a unicycle.  I then wondered when was the last time I saw anyone fail.  Well, there have been one or two recently, and they were big ones, but I'm thinking in general.  I typically don't fail in public, and rarely see another fail as well.

I see fails in social media all the time.  Usually they are captured by video, and posted for all generations to marvel at.  But by and large, I don't see it.  Not that I want to see more failures...  or do I?

The question occurred to me:  Why?  Why don't I see people failing?  Are people less adventurous today, less willing to take risks?  Are the consequences of failure greater?  Is the embarrassment too much to bear?  Are people today less tolerant of failure?  Is failure something to be avoided at all costs?  

I suppose all the questions are valid at some point, in some way.  What strikes me today as being the most relevant comes from my own personal experience.  I pushed myself hard today, fell, got back on, and finished my ride.  I was wondering where all the others were, who were pushing themselves, risking the failure, finishing the ride...  and it occurred to me as I am writing this paragraph...  its me.  I am not in the proper place to see the others.  I can't expect to see failures and finishes when I am not in the company of those taking the risks.

I wasn't really expecting a concrete answer, but there we go.  That was genuinely unexpected, and pleasantly surprising.  Found an answer while writing.  Huh.  

I need to make some changes.