If I’m not watching a historic drama or a medical show (dresses & doctors are my fav streaming genres), I’m watching a nature program.
Last week I watched one about the Cheetah and I learned a lot about failure.
The Cheetah is the fastest land animal, running at speeds up to 70 mph.
It runs that fast to catch its food, preying on other fleet-footed animals like gazelles, impala, and even rabbits.
And yet, its hunts mostly end in failure.
The scientists on that nature program said that a Cheetah only bags its dinner 1 out of every 8 attempts.
All that speed, all that exertion and energy spent, only to end up still hungry and needing to hunt.
And yet, there aren’t a bunch of depressed Cheetahs out there wondering why life on the savannah is so hard.
Cheetahs don’t pout.
Nor do they avoid hunting or convince themselves that they’re bad at it simply because they’re mostly never succeeding.
They just keep hunting.
Because they eventually do bag dinner, and man that’s gotta be extra delicious after all those attempts.
At the end of Warrior season, Cheetah reminds us that nothing is promised, no matter how much we put into it, not even running 70 mph.
Warrior wisdom helps us weather failure.
Also pain, discomfort, disappointment, frustration, defeat, and desperation.
I think it’s a common misconception that if we “do it right” then we won’t fail.
If we “figure it out”, then everything will be easy and comfortable.
I mean, tell that to a Cheetah.
For the most part, when a Cheetah fails it just struts over to some shade, pants awhile, and then tries again (and again and again).
Warrior wisdom helps us understand how to strut and pant, preparing for the next attempt.
It helps us weather the inevitable hardships, not avoid them.
We have this wisdom in place because we’re definitely going to fail sometimes, and things are definitely going to be hard.
Definitely.
It’s not a matter of finding the right method, partner, niche, religion, or diet that will excuse us from hardship.
It’s a matter of having methods, partners, niches, religions, and diets that support us when it’s hard.
When there’s pain and frustration, what helps you weather it?
When you’re on our 7th “gazelle chase” and haven’t bagged one yet, what keeps you going, trusting in your design the way the Cheetah just runs without wondering it its running “right”?
This is how to employ Warrior wisdom.
I touched on this when I wrote Eat the Scorpion.
Your Warrior wisdom knows that there will be triumphs and failures.
The Warrior knows how to celebrate a triumph, for sure.
But it also toughens us up and prepares us for all those hunts that don’t end in dinner.
Warrior wisdom helps us normalize failure, renaming it as strength training.
Warrior wisdom helps us want to be strong.
So, what’s challenging you? Are you mad about it, or are you panting in the shade, already smarter and stronger, ready to try again?
love and cheetahs,
xo
kv
