What would you do if you couldn't fail?

This question is quite hard to imagine. My immediate reaction to reading this prompt was “I can chill and not stress about anything ever.” But then I realized that life without failure would be very boring. It feels like everything in life is connected to competition. Someone has to fail and we all try not to be that person. The fear of failure is what keeps you going, so in a world lacking it, life would have no meaning.

Failure can come in many forms: failing a test, failing to write a good personal essay, failing to remember your friend’s birthday, failing to keep yourself mentally healthy, and so on. While I certainly might benefit from not failing in these things, I wouldn’t have anything to laugh about once I’m older. My life would be dull if everything was perfect. I won’t have any funny anecdotes to share. I won’t be able to relate to other people. This reminds me of the moose character, George, in the TV show Arthur. He always won all the competitions but was such a quiet guy who never expressed any amusement in life. I think the writers made that a running joke, but I certainly don’t want to be him.

I fondly recall one elementary school day. I took the bus to and from school. I lived somewhat far from the school, so the bus used to come super early to pick me up. It was pitch black outside. I was waiting with my dad for the bus to arrive, and when it did, I began walking towards it. Then, in the middle of the street, I realized something was wrong. Why did my back feel lighter than usual? I patted my back and realized that I had left my backpack at home. I quickly ran back to my dad and we went all the way back home to grab my backpack. When I finally got on the bus, the driver was like, “dude you took so much time we’re going to be late now.” I, embarrassed, sat down. At the moment, I would have been glad to rewind time and make myself not fail. Looking back, though, I realize that this experience was good for me. I never left anything important behind from that point on. It’s also a funny thing to think about now.

I might be interpreting the question incorrectly. “What would you do if you couldn’t fail?” The emphasis on ‘couldn’t’ implies that, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t fail. This could be almost like a superpower. “Oh, you studied all night long for that test? LOL I just winged it and got a 100.”

But I’m also not so sure if I would want this ‘superpower.’ If I never have to work to pass something, how would I grow as a person? I would be stuck in this premature mind. Failing, or trying really hard to not fail, is what exposes you to maturity. With this superpower, I can’t reach that level. I wouldn’t earn any of my accomplishments because the failures that I would have had would just be handed to me as successes. Who knows how many things I truly worked to achieve versus me ‘using my powers?’ If I couldn’t fail, it would probably weigh heavily on the latter.

I write this as if I am a super experienced person who has seen it all. But that’s the thing: I haven’t. I would like to though, but that would never happen if I couldn’t fail. Having this ability sounds like a really scary reality that I do not want to live in. To answer the question, I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t fail.