Thought - Equipment failure or opportunity?

Equipment failure or opportunity?

So many times I try to tell myself that a mistake is not a failure but an opportunity to learn, do better, or to just try again. I'm a glass is half full kind of person. Because life is too short to be the opposite. 

Although, now that I think about it more, the exception is my gas tank. If I get to half a tank, it's almost empty. I blame it on the years I lived in Germany as a US Army dependent during the 1980-90s Cold War days. We were advised to keep our tanks above half in case the Soviets invaded and us Non-combatants had to flee. Living there 8 years on 3 separate assignments made it a habit. Coming back to the US, I lived in places where gas stations were few and far between. 

But I digress. (something I do frequently when stream of writing, so beware)

So back to present day, when I was swimming recently, I had what I call my equipment fail on me. Two different incidents and two different thoughts.

The first happened when I forgot to check my Apple Watch charge before swimming. OK, so this is a first world issue. Also the fact I have my own backyard pool, in the Phoenix desert. (oops, another digression)

So yes, my watch died about 5 minutes into my swim. And who cares, I'm swimming right? Well, I swim laps for fitness, because I'm an old lady, and had a recent knee replacement, and since the COVID pandemic have had asthma flare up, and it's Phoenix, and it's 100 degrees F by 9 am. (OK, I think that's enough excuses.)  Anyway, I need to swim for exercise. I usually do 30 minutes and about 50 laps and make sure my heart rate is in my aerobic zone.

My watch is my faithful companion, except when I forget to charge it. No information on my swim, so let's just swim and try to count laps. Was that 12 or 14? Ugh, I can't count because my thoughts go everywhere while I swim. I get out of the pool and stick my head in the door. My sweet husband always sits by the door while I swim. I ask and he agrees to come get my at 30 minutes.

Back in the pool, I'm like OK, I'm in business. I won't know if I got my heard rate up, accept by swimming faster and needing to takes breaths It won't be in my daily goals that I got my exercise down. 

Ugh. I hadn't realized how much I had come to rely on these bits of information. Back in the day, before all these gadgets were created, I would have just swam with an alarm clock or something on the pool side.

So have I decided I don't need my watch anymore? 

Heck no!! There's a reason these things were invented and I like using them. So my take away for this failure is opportunity and  acknowledgement. Use the tools available to you and take care of them so they don't fail. Figure out a backup so you can finish what you started (thanks to hubby, I didn't need to go find my trusty alarm clock I never use anymore now that I'm retired.)

The other equipment failure, yep, swimming again. Like I said I think while I swim and thus can't count my laps. So this time, I'm putting on my swim cap. Yes, I wear one. I don't spend boo-coo* dollars to color my old lady hair, just to have the chlorine wash it all out. And I wear ear plugs. I breathe through my nose, so didn't have those.

Back to my swim cap, I'm pulling it on, a tight, speedo cap and snap! The one side has just ripped off. OK, not all of it, so maybe I can pull it down farther. But no, it won't keep my hair dry. Bummer. OK, I'm still go swimming and try to keep my head out of the water as much as possible. Not the best swim, but I did it. And my hair got wet. Sigh. Old lady hair survived. 

After my shower, go look on Amazon for best swim caps for long hair. And Voila! they have a few variations. I order two so I now have a back up plan if one rips. Both come with nose plugs. 

I give the nose plugs a try, they are not very comfortable, but now I'm hooked. Both caps work great and are even better than the old one. And I'm back in business. 

Just in time for the weather to cool off and I'm back on my bike. HA HA! OK, not yet, it's still in the 100 degree range. But I did go for a bike ride this morning after the last 2 months swimming. 

This failure caused me to remember to have backups, think ahead, and try new things. Maybe I better get another swimsuit! 

So to answer the question Failure or Opportunity? It's not an OR, but rather, how to overcome when something doesn't go how you want it to. Think ahead when you can to avoid issues. Find a solution so you can finish what you started. 

More thoughts to come now that I'm biking again. And hopefully after my knee heals up more, I'll be able to hike the mountains near me. (fingers crossed)

Enjoy your day and thanks for reading if you made it this far. 

*Note: check on boo-coo. It was a phrase that military folk always used to mean a lot, a huger than huge amount. I'm thinking it's spelled differently and probably a riff on the French beaucoup.