A friend described the dynamics in learning about slacklining. I hesitate to confine it to learning how to stay on the slackline, because he articulates the value of slipping off as well.

 

If we are duped by the illusion that being on is right and good, and careening  constitutes defeat, we limit our perception of life. We are here not simply to prove our adeptness. If that were the real goal we might as well detach the ribbon from the trees, lay it on the ground and prance proudly along it while raking in accolades. We could even photo shop it so that it looks like we are defying gravity.  This photo of my daughter gave me a pang of fear until her brother assured me that she was only three feet from the grass. 

 

Our spiritual path is like the slackline, and while we slap labels like failure on parts of it, all of them are valuable.

 

"Being angry when we come off and seeking to stay successful by staying on actually interferes with the process," says the man on... or beside... the line.

 

The speaker in the video has worked to the point that he can take three steps. Yet he enjoys all of it. His son can walk the length of the tether, turn around and walk back. This does not make him more valuable as a person. It does not even guarantee that he is happier.