The Ginormous Bowling Ball

I wish I can strike every time the bowling ball roll down the lane. I want that perfect score. However, it does not always happen as I expect it. No matter how hard I try, I just can not strike out every time. So I have to accept the score given for that play. And what do I do? I get back up to that lane and try again, all the while laughing and giggling with those whom I have went to the bowling alley with.

Now, picture this same episode with that of the pitfalls we endure and the responses we provide to those. Do we allow the pitfalls to happen and learn from the experience or do we get upset and refuse to play? Many times this question can get misconstrued because a person can assume they learned from the experience all the while they are actually refusing to play.

How can I tell when I am refusing to play? I can tell because when I am presented with the same situation again, I make the same mistakes or similar mistakes. There is no change in the way I walk into the situation, nor in the way I handle the situation. I may be able to alter the situation and still succeed with the same mistakes, but did I put forth my full effort or was I determined that the original approach would work? In most cases, I am determined the original way would work, but I did not know how at the time. So I go back to the drawing board and critique the situation. I want to know where I went wrong and how can I make this play work. With slight alterations, it may work and in many situations it do. But what do I do when it don't? And how do I decrease my wasted time on it, so that I am not fooling around with a dead end? Do, I continue to completely change each play  or work on the ones I already tried that failed?

When it does not work, I play. I change my entire strategy and start fresh with one that is of higher risk than the one I used before. I challenge myself with the unknown and it gives me a rush. My goal is to win and in order to win, I can not be afraid to lose. I can not be afraid to start over. I show no fear. I enjoy the risk. I decrease my wasted time by research and pinpoint the confusion. Nothing is a dead end and everything has an answer. Some things just take more practice and understanding. I put the situation on the shelf and go back to it when needed, all the while I play. I change for the short-term and I do not consider it failure, I consider it a part of my ginormous bowling ball waiting to strike when needed.