What failure teaches us

A most frequently asked question by human beings on this planet, including both working persons and home-makers, is: "What is the best perception to view Failure?" I have read and re-read the lives of several great leaders, CEOs and Company CFOs, like Elon, Musk, Jack Ma, Jeff Bezos and the late Steve Jobs, all of whom one would automatically equate to being highly successful. However, when one reads about their life travails, one will be amazed to know their perceptions on failure, and that they rue that it is a part and parcel of even the lives of successful people. The important thing to note is not to be discouraged but instead, to find the root cause of one’s mistakes, learn lessons from them and resolve not to make the same mistakes again.

Robert Bruce was trapped in a cave and happened to see a spider spinning a web. At least seven times the spider failed, yet Robert continued watching and the next time the spider succeeded! Robert went on to succeed as a warrior and administrator, and the rest as we know it, is history. In the same way, Thomas Edison may have made several attempts to create a light bulb but each time, his attempts were futile and met with failure. Did he give up? If he had, we would be using candles or kerosene lamps for illumination in the night!

One may opine that these are the traits of great and courageous stalwarts, how can we lesser mortals summon up this kind of extra strength and resilience to face failure? Here are some enlightening points: One must hone up traits not to give up, not to give in, but to give it all you’ve got. Yes, one may feel tired. If so, one can rest, take a break, but one shouldn’t quit. It would do well for one to read the lives of great men who didn’t give up.

Secondly, we mortals can learn to avoid failure by a rather simple but soul-searching technique and that is to pray to a Higher Power and voice positive affirmations. Quitting is easy, writing that impulsive resignation letter is easier, what stays the course is praying for guidance and resolving to not let failure dictate your life. Remember, if people are throwing brickbats or even stones, one must gather them and use them as stepping stones for success, even if one has tears in one’s eyes.