Okay, so “accept defeat” – it’s a tough one, right? I’ve been wrestling with this idea for a while, and I finally decided to just… do it. See what happens. So, I picked something I’m notoriously bad at: remembering to water my plants.
Seriously, I kill everything. Even succulents. It’s a gift.
The Experiment Begins
I started by setting myself up for failure. I mean, that’s the point, yeah? I bought a little basil plant – cute, smells nice, totally doomed. I put it on my windowsill, right where I’d see it every day. And then… I just… didn’t water it.
It was painful, at first. Every morning, I’d look at it, thinking, “Just a little water, it won’t hurt.” But nope. I stuck to the plan. I watched it. I documented it. I took sad little pictures of it drooping more and more each day.
- Day 1: Basil looks happy, perky. I feel a twinge of guilt.
- Day 3: Starting to look a little… thirsty. The leaves aren’t so bright. My resolve is weakening.
- Day 5: Definitely wilting. I can practically hear it screaming for water. I feel like a monster.
- Day 7: It’s… crispy. Brown. Dead. I have officially accepted defeat (and murdered a basil plant).
The Aftermath (and the Point)
It sounds silly, I know. But it was actually kind of… freeing. I mean, I usually get so stressed out about failing. I try to control everything, make everything perfect. And it’s exhausting!
This time, I just let it happen. I embraced the failure. I observed it. And you know what? The world didn’t end. I didn’t spontaneously combust. I just had a dead basil plant.
It made me realize that sometimes, it’s okay to not be perfect. It’s okay to let things go, to admit you can’t do it all. It’s even okay to kill a plant (though I probably won’t be buying any more anytime soon). I accepted I am bad at this, and that is fine.
So, yeah, that’s my “accept defeat” experiment. Maybe it’ll inspire you to try something similar. Pick something small, something you’re not good at, and just… let yourself fail. It might be surprisingly liberating.
