But no life is always wine and roses.
Into every life, a little failure must fall. This weekend, in particular, was a win some / lose some kind of weekend. Friday was epic. Saturday morning was an epic fail. Friday I took home a medal for 3rd female in the CFC 5k. Saturday I received notice that my research paper did not win an award I was seeking.
Friday I was thinking:
"Hooray! I won third place!"
Saturday my thoughts were clouded by:
"Second place is the first loser."
Important side note: I have always HATED that phrase about second place.
But for the first time, I finally understand it. (Note: it is not lost on me that I was tickled pink to be third in one event, but bummed for second in another. In running, third place is still medal-place. In research awards, you don't get to put "almost-but-not-quite" on your resume.)
Fortunately, as with races, there are plenty more conferences to attend and awards to compete for.
And, as with races, I had better start putting my game plan together right now to be ready for the next one.
So I'm off to start plotting my next research project!
How do you deal with disappointing news? Do you sulk? Start planning your next attempt? Find a different hobby to distract you? All of the above?
I totally sulk for awhile. I think you need to have your pity party for awhile, own the feelings of disappointment you have, and then move on to the next thing. So sorry for the bad news, but congrats on 3rd place. That is awesome. I only placed once and that was because there were only 5 people in my category!! So I couldn't imagine being 3rd overall!
ReplyDeleteB, have I ever mentioned how much I admire your attitude? it is a bummer that you didn't get the award you were going for- but you obviously did a great piece of work, and are better prepared from that for the next one. :) On to the next challenge, eh? :) x
ReplyDeleteOh, I definitely sulked for a little while... but sulking doesn't change anything, so the pity party never lasts long. And yes. On to the next challenge!
ReplyDeleteI have a pity party for about a day (depending on what happened) and then I move on. You can't control what happened... you can only control your reaction to what happened :)
ReplyDeleteSo sorry! I like the irony of being 3rd in a race and 2nd for the research award :) I always try to worry about what I need to and to look forward….you can't spend too much time looking backwards and you can't spend too much time worrying about things that might not ever be an issue. Go get 'em girl!
ReplyDeleteI pout for a good 10 minutes or so, then dust off the ego and get on with life. We'll never get where we want to go standing in place very long. Just have to learn from the experience and keep on keepin' on!
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