Let’s talk about failure.
It’s inevitable. And if you haven’t failed, you haven’t branched out enough.
I had (what I considered) to be a huge failure my junior year of high school. After 7 years of playing competitive volleyball, I didn’t make the varsity team. Looking back now it seems trivial, but like any other 16 year old, I was devastated. I had spent all winter recuperating from a knee surgery instead of playing travel volleyball, and that, combined with the serious politics in Catholic high school sports in Toledo (no joke), meant I didn’t make the cut.
It was hard to accept; as no one likes to be told they aren’t good enough. Being the somewhat impulsive person that I am, that day I called our family friend and offered to be the volunteer coach for the 5th grade volleyball team. Within a day, my 16 year old self had gone from high school volleyball player to legally responsible for twelve 5th grade girls. It was a rash decision, but one I’m so glad I made.
I spent the last two years of high school coaching my girls, and playing in a less competitive high school league with my middle school friends. Because I was no longer committed to travel volleyball all winter, I went out on a limb and joined the swim team. I had experience from summer swim teams as a child, but high school swimming kicked my butt. Along with getting into amazing shape, I was able to develop friendships with girls & guys (we swam with the boys team) that I otherwise wouldn’t have.
Because I became a much better swimmer, and my dad is a huge cyclist, we decided to give triathlons a try in 2009. After our first race we became hooked, and I spent the next 5 years racing in the summers.
I started college in 2010, and with my newfound love for the multi-sport, joined triathlon club at Grand Valley. I practiced and raced with the team until 2013. It was through Triathlon Club that I was given the opportunity to be a New York City Marathon volunteer in 2012 and 2013.
Which, to this day, is one of the most amazing and memorable experiences I’ve had. I still get chills thinking about 2012, the year the marathon was cancelled last minute due to Hurricane Sandy, and how thousands of runners gathered in Central Park to run 4 laps that sunny Sunday morning, equating to about 26.2 miles. These people, from all over the world, who had been training for months and even years to run this race were determined to get those miles in. The pinned their bibs on, represented their countries, and had their families cheering on the sidelines. I joined the pack for 5 of those miles, and my goodness, was it inspiring.
the (almost) NYC Marathon of 2012.
What I’m really trying to say here – is that I can loosely relate years of wonderful life experiences to a failure that crushed me in high school. And in that moment I was utterly devastated, but within the first few months, and to this day, I realize how vital that failure was to my personal development, and how happy I am that it forced me out of my comfort zone.
I have had plenty of other failures since then (naturally), and still do my best to find the positives in each one.
Have you all ever had any failures that led to amazing experiences? If so, share below! I want to hear.
Have a happy hump day!
xo, Maddy
PS. Special thanks to Dressfo for this adorable striped dress. Loving the front tie & v-neck and for under $20 you can’t beat it! They have tons of cute striped dresses right now – I would recommend checking them out 🙂
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