Value Of Defeat: Pursuing Success By Failing Forward
Sunday passed fairly quickly. Early start with a match away in Ballyshannon, as well as further hike with my wife, made this day flying fast, but also delivered a bit of satisfaction for once, because we went on for a trail that we did not explore before.
Have a quick watch of a short mixed update from the soccer pitch and in-house, and meet me below for the rest of the write up:
[watch time: 9min 37s]
Dad joke again – I twisted the title and made an error on purpose. Instead of just writing “earning” I used Erne Wanderers FC as an inspiration to modify it slightly.
Erne Wanderers seem to be unbeaten by Julian’s team so far. Even though the match was very even and balanced, both teams gave the most and played well, it was again Erne that scored the only goal in the match and it happened later in the first half.
Despite weak start, and slow acceleration, Drumbar United FC, where Julian plays, kept the 0:0 result for quite a while. Being a bit bombarded with shots, they could count on the goalkeeper who did tremendous job in keeping ball away. This must have gave them confidence to push more and even though they lost a goal, in second half they turned the tables a bit.
Constant attacks brought them very close to scoring, but it never materialised. The closest situation was actually involving Julian, when the ball from corner crossed perfectly for his half-volley, but the ball went exactly where keeper was, and he miraculously saved it in the last milisecond, just as it was on the line.
Even though they lost the match, they deserve praise. Also it is very important to fail a lot, I think, in order to fully appreciate the wins in the future. The success isn’t a success, when it comes easy and without failure or challenges. They need to … “Erne” it next time in Ballyshannon…
Later on Julian stayed at home and played a bit of games, while Elizabeth and myself we drove to a new place to test a hiking route. New place for Elizabeth it is, because I was in the area before, albeit not exactly on this trail.
I wrote about on point of interest in this area in Day 306 – Disert Graveyard. This time though we passed by the Letterbarrow FC grounds and a turn towards graveyard, and instead kept going until we found a nice spot to park the car.
We walked for a while and enjoyed calmness, peaceful vibes, birds singing etc. of this area. Noises of small streams of water flowing down the mountains also added to the atmosphere. Sheep were everywhere and they were not as timid as they usually are. Most of them did not run away immediately and waited to last minute before the moved away. Some were more frightened, but on lamb actually stayed behind it’s mother and kept walking alongside with us.
We crossed one gate that we couldn’t open (it was locked for security reasons so the cars can’t pass through, and most of potential trespassers are deterred, but we know the “rules” of hiking in Ireland, and that most of private land owners don’t mind if you cross their land, if you do it respectfully and not litter, or frighten their animals.
We covered 3 kilometres of a solid uphill. Quite demanding cardio and lack of wind caused us to sweat quite a lot, but the views and overall experience was worth it.
We returned to the car just as the rain started falling, so it was a perfect timing to go home. Rest of the day was gloomy and as forecasted – mostly themed with drizzle.
I have to wrap up now much earlier – it’s 21:45 (9:45pm). Tomorrow and the day after I have two days of training for which I travel to Dublin office. It means that tomorrow I have to depart around 5am, so better get ready and hit the hay fast, so I can get enough sleep.
Stay tuned and see you tomorrow!
Blunt Force Healing 
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