Knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying.
- Meredith Grey (Grey's Anatomy - Episode 1.06: If Tomorrow Never Comes)

I'm glad to say that in my personal life, I've always tried. I've encountered some fairly spectacular failures which have all left their mark on me, but at least I can stand tall, knowing that in spite of the fear of failure, I always gave it a shot.

Some of the more outrageous things I've done included:

• Going out with a bunch of marines I met on my first night in Berlin to grab a couple of beers even though I was incredibly jet-lagged and exhausted from three incredibly rigorous weeks of work-related training.
• Walking around deserted Ljubljana from 11.30 pm to 3 am with an American who I had just met about an hour before.
• Walking up to a stud I saw in a bar in front of all of his friends and asking for his phone number.
• Telling a friend of mine that I'd been having the biggest crush on him for the longest time and that even though he was going overseas to work, I wanted him to know that. As it turned out, he didn't feel the same way about me, but as the saying goes, knowing is better than wondering.
  
• Turning up at the same place where a person I was deeply enamoured with was at and giving him a Time Out chocolate bar because, as I told him, "I know you've had a rough week and I thought you'd like some time out." This was about a few weeks after we had first met, after he had called me five days in a row just to chat about anything and everything and after he had dropped by my office at 10 pm to bring me out for a cup of coffee when I was working late. On the same occasion as the Time Out incident, I met the girl he was attending the event with. She turned out to be his ex-ex-ex-ex-(etc.) girlfriend and subsequently, his girlfriend.

Some of them, quite obviously, hurt, while others didn't. And of course I cringe whenever I think about some of the stuff I've done. I mean, come on! The very last item listed? It's like one of the things you see on American "dramedies" like Ally McBeal or Grey's Anatomy. Almost humiliating yourself by doing something really sweet and quirky for someone you've decided you're going to go out on a limb for and risk being thought of as someone who's a little too earnest, a little too sweet and a little too silly? And then right after that, meeting "the other woman" and then wondering, "wait a second, what if I'm the other woman and not her?"

Oh well.

At least, I can say that I tried. And no, I don't regret what I did. It made one heck of a story to tell the girlfriends.

I wish I could say the same thing about my professional life though.

(P.S. If you're wondering why I've got so many Grey's Anatomy quotes, it's because I watch them twice a week, once on Monday at 11 pm on Channel 5 (Season 2) and another on Wednesday at 9 pm on Starworld (Season 1).)