Margin of Error

When it comes to the subject of education,the most obvious objective is to gain mastery over the subject that one is learning. An idiom that is often used to describe academic success, is passing with flying colours. It's a bright and vibrant picture, to say the least about the feasibility of colours actually being able to take flight. In my own experience as a  student, I find that when it comes to thinking about academic highlights, memories about getting high grades are the ones that come first to mind. 

It makes me wonder if that is all there is to it. Could the point of going through the strain of school, or whatever it may be that is occupying your efforts, just be the result at the end of it. This importance that we put on results can be such a great load or one to carry. If the result is some thing favourable we tend to be jubilant and it only ever is this way when one wins. 

We almost never celebrate our loses and blunders. There is a lot of negativity aimed towards making mistakes or failing to meet a mark. This sentiment binds me, so very often in the way I try to make decisions. Each decision I make should be the best one, or at least the reward coming from it should benefit the most. It leads me to seeking the path of least resistance, because the prospect of wrecking things seems way too morbid.

I came across a phenomena called the Super Mario effect. This is based on what happens when one is playing Super Mario. When you play the video-game, whenever you die in the game or fail a level, what you do is brush it off and get back to trying the level again. You do not find yourself moping over the failed attempt, or staying up late thinking about how you stumbled over a goomba. The same comes to our own experiences, loses should not keep us down and out for long. We should be willing to welcome them as being part of the journey and even ways to explore alternative paths. 

Making mistakes, can be perceived as a sign of creativity. It means that you tried things differently and at times a completely new method. A lot of the time one may act too late whilst waiting to get good enough, or confident enough before venturing on. Taking action whilst scared and unsure anyway is a way to learn that is second to none when it comes to gaining experience. It's better to aim high and strike out, than to aim way too low for the sake of being comfortable. 

This is all still a lesson I am trying to learn. Mentally failure tends to be inflated to being the end of the world as I know it. The reality is that there has never been a setback that has had the repercussions of Armageddon, that I have come across.I am learning how to fail, how to gracefully stumble and find my balance again. A wise idiom appraises the one who falls and gets back up, more than the one who never falls at all. The next time you are faced with the chance to fail and learn from it, do not shy away it's all a part of your development.