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Headspace Studios. Hi friends, it's Rosie here.
Welcome to Radio Headspace, and to Friday.
A little while back, I sat down to watch the Super Bowl.
Don't judge me, I'm human.
But I wasn't watching for the game, I wasn't watching for the commercials, I was watching for Usher.
Not sure if you saw it, all of our 13 year old dreams came true and Usher, a seemingly ageless man, absolutely tore it up in front of 100 million people.
He played the hits, he sang his heart out, and he broke out his classic dance moves.
Now there was one moment, and if you saw it, you know what I'm talking about.
Where he came out on roller skates.
And I think this is probably the most attention that broadcast got because all of us were thinking, what if he falls, Usher, don't do it.
Of course, he crushed it.
And when he went back to wearing shoes, the nation breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Because the truth is, there was something so deeply engaging about the fact that he could wipe out on the largest stage in the USA.
We were witnessing the wonderful, fascinating world of human fallibility.
We knew Usher put in the work, he knew he put in the work, and all of us were glued to the TV to see if he could pull it off.
We often say, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Maybe that's true, I don't know.
But what I do think is that maybe we should reframe failure as neither positive or negative, but as something that makes you a more interesting person.
And that is way more important than we give it credit for.
One of my best friends went to a very Oolala business school.
I will not say the name, but you've heard of it.
And good for him. It's an amazing accomplishment to go to a prestigious school and it should be celebrated.
But one night he asked me if I wanted to go to a dinner party with a bunch of extremely successful alumni of the school.
I was so excited to have the opportunity to be around and talk to such interesting and educated people.
So I got to the party and everyone looked great.
And I gotta say, I didn't find it as engaging as I would have thought.
We didn't have a lot in common, and as much as I tried to fit in, it just wasn't happening.
I found myself missing my friends and family, some of which are successful, some of which have failed miserably at something, and all of which throw a damn good party.
The next day, because I'm me, I called up my friend and explained the situation.
I expressed that I was so thankful for the invite and the food, but I couldn't shake the thought that something wasn't clicking.
And he said, you're right.
Parties like this can be a little dull sometimes.
And he went on to say something I think is really, really, really profound.
Success, oftentimes, isn't all that interesting.
The tea at a party, my friends, isn't that everything went well.
It's that a first date went horribly awry, or that you got unexpectedly fired, or that you tried your hardest to do stand -up for the first time, and nobody laughed.
That is a story. Because in that, there's consolation and laughter through tears, and something to gossip about.
I'm not knocking success, and I'm not anti -higher education.
I'm all about these things.
However, if you want to take a swing at something, or go out on a big date, or try something that genuinely puts you on edge, maybe reframe the idea of failure as something that makes you an interesting person.
After falling on your face, you'll get the chance to sit down at a dinner with your best friend and say, you'll never believe what happened.
Trust me, watch their grin grow from ear to ear.
And from there, it's on.
Who cares what you're eating?
The two of you can laugh the night away at a swing and a miss.
That's all for me today.
If you enjoyed this episode, please share your thoughts with me on Instagram at Rosie Acosta.
Thank you so much for listening.
I'll see you back here really soon.
