there are two options:

1. spiral upward towards the sky - to believe you are more capable than your current state. challenge yourself & evolve beyond it.
2. spiral downward to the earth - admit defeat against a greater force (external or within). retract to do more inner, foundational work.

neither of these are wrong. it's truly a decision of where you think your energy & effort is best allocated.

when we remove the pressure of "getting it right" the decision becomes a lot easier to make.

The best thing for being sad… is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.