As a child, I spent every summer running on what my parents called “summer legs.”
Summer legs were bruised from stumbling over tree stumps, bloody from tripping on asphalt, grass-stained from rolling down hills and dusty with remnants of rainbow chalk.
Summer legs meant there were ice cream trucks to chase, scotches to hop and hiding friends to seek.
“You’ve got your summer legs!” my mother would laugh, “that means you’re having a great time.”
Even if a tumble hurt in the moment, and some — rather dramatic — tears were shed, my parents’ philosophy of “summer legs” always made me feel proud.
I was proud to be playing all day. I was proud of my imagination, my energy, my silliness, and I was proud of my Band-Aid covered knees: Star Wars plastered over Minnie Mouse and unicorns over sloths.
Many children seem incapable of having long-lasting bad moods.
Apparently made of rubber, they can fall down at the playground and immediately get back up — refusing to let a momentary set-back distract them from the mission at hand.
But a childlike, carefree attitude toward pain is easier romanticized in writing than accomplished in-person, especially as an adult.
Our biggest fears aren’t scary monsters under the bed, quicksand, or even face-planting off the monkey-bars.
We fear losing things we love, and among those things are our reputations, successes and accomplishments.
Around 31% of Americans are afraid of failure, according to the commonly referenced Linkagoal survey. We are trained to be terrified of the sting any setback in our work, careers or personal lives will cause.
Even when motivational speaker after motivational speaker reminds us we learn from every mistake — which is true — we’re convinced those falls will break us, not educate us.
I am definitely among the masses who share the fear of failure, so this column might make me a nostalgic hypocrite.
But my “summer legs” memories encompass an attitude I’ll cling to this semester, and hopefully it’s a mindset other students can benefit from too.
May you never stop running on summer legs and dirty feet: unafraid of pain if it’s the cost for a riveting adventure and unafraid of failure if it’s the price for a new experience and an open mind.
