If You Fail, I Won't Point and Laugh

Merry Christmas
from our house to yours

On a note unrelated to anything, I'm going to tell you what frustrates me.

Do you ever express worry or concern about an upcoming something you have to do, only to be told, "Oh, you'll be just fine" ?

For instance, "I have a really difficult final next Monday. It's going to be bad."
"You'll be just fine. I have absolute faith in you."

Well, that makes one of us. Seriously, though, I know this is the most ridiculous pet peeve on earth, but when someone assures me I will be so fine and I couldn't possibly screw something up that badly, it makes me that much more tense.

Because what happens if I actually do mess up? Will this non-doubter suddenly be disgusted or dismayed by my performance? Will he or she rethink every positive thought he or she ever thought about me? Something alone the lines of, "Wow. Maybe bRob isn't on her game at all."

When someone brushes off the possibility of failure so cavalierly [and we always do], it terrifies me. If the idea of my failure is so inconceivable, what does it say about me if I do fail?

So here is a harsh brick of truth for you. You might do wrong. You might mess up. You might screw something up terribly. You will not always land the job, get the A, or win the election for historian of your favorite club.

But guess what? I will not judge you for that. Even if it makes no sense how you messed up so badly, I will still think you are an incredible person [assuming I felt that way to begin with...]. You may get down on yourself, but I won't. You're still you, and bombing something terribly, while embarrassing, will not change that.

And not to Jesus-juke you...
but almost certainly to Jesus - juke you...

Jesus will love you too. You can do the dumbest, most twisted thing on earth, and He will not change His mind about you. You're still God's awesome, beautiful child.

And if you are a cavalier "Nah, you'll do just fine"-sayer, maybe try saying something like "You will probably do just fine. But even if you don't and you do really really terribly and it's just embarrassing, it won't matter to me one bit."

Or am I being ridiculous?

Maybe. It's kind of a thing I sometimes do.

Outtakes from a failed Christmas shoot

-bRob