“When
I was a young man, I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures.
I didn't want to be a failure, so I did ten times more work.”
-
George Bernard Shaw.
Former
United States President, Abraham Lincoln, once told this story to a delegation at the White
house:
“Years ago, a young friend and I were out
one night when a shower of meteors fell from the clear November sky. The young
man was frightened, but I told him to look up in the sky past the shooting
stars to the fixed stars beyond, shining serene in the firmament, and I said,
“Let us not mind the meteors, but let us keep our eyes on the stars.”
Like
the young man in Lincoln’s story, most of us, as it is in the nature of human
being, are naturally “precautious”. We have the tendency to always toe the line
when unexpected crisis/situation arises. This is because we are afraid to fail.
Most
of us have been somewhat afraid to take a leap of faith in a particular cause
of our live (either in business, career, personal relationship with others etc)
because we are afraid of the inevitable.
While
some have taken the plunge to dive into the “river” of situation around them – giving
it their all, others have either dip a tip of their toe into the river or in
another case, just sit at the edge of the river bank inorder not to get wet –
for fear of the unknown.
Of
course, we shield ourselves against the inevitable (or who will see a boiling
water and then dip his/her hand into it without caution :-)) but one way or the
other we find ourselves at one point in our cautious life walking the line of
“possible failure.”
And
when we find ourselves in this uncomfortable situation, we ask ourselves, “Can
I rise above this situation (failure)?
Whether
we like it or not; in life, there is got to be a silver lining in our big blue
sky. This silver lining comes in form of obstacles that we tag as failure.
Failure
comes in big or small stuffs. It can be as a result of not meeting up the
cut-off mark for a school admission, carryover in examinations, a long-time/short-time
relationship that ended up broken, failure to secure a contract or to meet up
with the required standard of our friends, families and the society.
Sometimes,
we measure our success and triumphs with that of our friends, colleague, spouse
or celebrities/achievers we see or hear of. And if we are unable to measure up
to these standards, we tag our self as failures in that regard. Well, that
(comparing yourself with others) is a no-no because you are you and I am me. Always
have it in mind that though your situation may be similar to that of your
neighbor, your success story can never be the same.
As
a youngster, I have experienced my share of failures (which I know doesn’t end
so far I am living) but one thing that has kept me going is to bring out a
LESSON from each situation. I must confess that I have not always readily
embrace tough situations around me, but at least I try to look past that fear of failing. And whenever I
encounter a sort of “failure”, I try to look back to see where I have
missed it to bring out a lesson or two from such situations.
This lesson(s)
have in turn shape me one way or the other.
I
am not alone in tasting the bitter-sweet pill of failure, others have tasted,
swallowed and relish it. And I have envisaged is that those that have become
successful one way or the other in this world, have been able to learn lesson(s)
from their past failures/shortcomings – contributing to a large part of their
success.
We
admire those that have been able to rise above their failure but we are still
wary of embracing it ourselves. But one thing has holds true and it has stand
the test of time: “Failure can in turn bring insurmountable and untold
blessing.”
Therefore,
since we cannot prevent failure from happening, we might as well embrace it and
learn from them to be a better person than we were yesterday.
The
only way to walk the line of failure is to convert it (failure) into success is by
learning from them.
South
Africa ex-President, Nelson Mandela, once said, “The greatest glory in living
lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
Go
ahead and grow through your failure. Somehow, somewhere; the strength will come
for you to push forward.
When
you embrace your failure; you exhibit the attitude of moving on, stepping up
(rising above it) and then learning from the cause of the failure. If you are
not able to learn from the cause of your failure, it will be like the
proverbial dog that goes back to its vomit. In other word, you keep repeating
the same mistake and the failure syndrome continues.
So,
make the best of bad situations. Don’t bother wasting time grieving on past
failures for the long haul, instead, LEARN and MOVE ON to achieve success from the disappointment
you have experienced.
Jim
Stovall in his book “The Ultimate gift” says: “If we are not allowed to deal
with small problems (failure), we will be destroyed by slightly larger ones.
When we come to understand this fact, we live our lives not avoiding problems,
but welcoming them as challenges that will strengthen us so that we can be
victorious in the future.”
When
failures come your way, it strengthens you to stay balanced under pressure. It
also gives you the criteria you need most to work it out –patience.
Remember,
failure are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal.
Failure
is part of life, embrace it.
