Fraught With Failure

Today, I celebrate an old friend. It wasn't until recently that I realized just how much he prepared me for how life would be as an adult. As I have reflected on his experience many times lately, I've found, that in many ways, his life is a great representation of the human experience. And although on the outside, his life may seem to be a constant succession of failures, I believe that on the inside he teaches us what life is really all about. The friend? Wyle. E. Coyote.

As a young kid, I grew up watching LOONEY TUNES. It was the stuff that lazy, Saturday mornings were made of.  Wyle. E. Coyote was my favorite.  I don't know how many times I watched this guy fall, smashed, explode, sink, run-over by trucks and otherwise obliterated. I literally stopped counting after several hundred lives. And he didn't just die quietly; he went down in howling, burning misery.

And yet, sure enough, after each unsuccessful attempt to capture that blasted road runner, he always ended up, back in his cave, concocting a new plan. His keen mind focused on his all-important goal, and with a little help from the A.C.M.E. company, a new plan would arise like a phoenix from the ashes. Moments later, he would be back out on the road, seeing that new plan to come to fruition. And for a moment, just the smallest moment, he would catch a glimpse of glory! He could fly! And during that small sliver of time, he could actually taste just how sweet success would be!

That was usually RIGHT before he crashed and burned and was left as roadkill on the hot, desert ground.

The most note-worthy thing about Wyle E. Coyote is that after being shot down so many times, (literally), he still got up. Defying the odds by some gift of his intrinsic nature, he was able to recapture that gleam in his eye and the thirst for  his only ambition--Roast Road Runner.

I personally take a lot of strength from a guy like Wyle E.. Our lives run parallel to each other. Each of my days is fraught with many instances of failure: the times I let my temper get the better of me, forget about something or someone important, lose sight of the big picture, run off my big mouth, etc..  There is no end to the many things I do during the day to detonate the worthy goals I attempt to accomplish. Were I to accept defeat, I would go down in wrecking, burning flames. But I never say never! Sure, there are many times during the days and weeks that things don't go the way I had planned. Unforseen obstacles arise (like a giant truck barreling down the freeway), or there are elements that I just didn't plan for, (like the giant cliff looming in front of my face), or things I just failed to see, (like the huge boulder looming over my head when I look up). And just like Coyote, these things come between me and success.

But there are also fabulous glimpses of the glory--those few minutes or seconds of the day or week, when I really feel the sensation of perhaps, truly beginning to fly. And during that microscopic moment, the panorama becomes truly breathtaking. There really isn't a sensation like it in the world.  Pure bliss. And then, just like my canine friend, that surreal moment ends and punctuated with a crash. KABOOM!

Luckily for all of us, humans and coyotes alike, life isn't about the number of times you fall, explode or crash. It's about the number of times you get up afterward. When I'm on the ground, after I have just been run over, exploded, crashed, kicked down or all of the above, I think about my friend and a smile comes to my face. Slowly, gradually, the gleam in my eyes returns. Eventually, I get up, brush the dirt off and start again. (Or go to bed and at least resolve to start fresh tomorrow). In the end, it doesn't matter to me if it takes a batman suit, a canvas painted like a canyon tunnel, or a whole box of ACME explosives. What matters is that somehow, somewhere, I eventually cross that ever-elusive finish line.

I haven't done it yet. But I've had glimpses. And they alone are worth staying in the fight. At the very least, I know that the journey there will be one amazing road.  I want you there too.  You watch, we'll make it.  And there, at the finish line, coyote and I will greet you.  And we will be serving up huge, delicious bowls of "Road Runner Stew." Trust me.  Victory is going to be delicious!