My Daily Dose of Failure

Thanks to my dear son, I have been playing more complicated Wordle games recently. Octordle is a game where eight words are solved at the same time. Sedecordle has sixteen. I think there are twenty-one guesses to solve for sixteen words, and thirteen guesses for eight words.

In the past week, there were several days where I failed to solve all of the words. I'd screw up on a word like _ound. The answer could be pound, bound, mound, round, hound, found, sound or wound. I'd blindly guess, and waste my guesses. I should have waited until more letters were revealed later in the puzzle.

My losing streaks are interesting.

Previously, I would have vexed as to why I couldn't solve all of the words. Or been upset. Or doubled-down and done everything not to fail again. Or, I'd think the universe was trying to tell my something--that I have been distracted and unable to concentrate. It was a sign of weakness or distress.

I think the universe is trying to tell me something else:

Lighten up.

Now, my daily dose of failure makes me a better player. I learn from my mistakes, and then don't repeat them.

And it is fun, even when I fail. Instead of thinking of myself as having failed, I give the puzzle creators a nod for making a good puzzle. ("Mimic." Really? That is a beast of a Wordle word, using three uncommon letters, two of them twice!)

I am learning to be more gentle with myself when I fail.