Some Important Facts About Failure

Generally, failure is viewed as something negative. For those experiencing it, it may become the end of the road and therein lies the monster for simply, fear of failing again may cause a reluctance to move on.

It is said that success is failure turned inside out. Thus, far from being negative, failure can be just the spur that is needed to point you in the right direction when you are off track. It can therefore have some very positive outcomes.

SOME FACTS ABOUT FAILURE:

1. Failure is useful in that it teaches important lessons about what to avoid in the future so that mistakes are not repeated. Importantly, it must be recognized that failure has already happened and the less time that is spent weeping over it; the better. The sooner you pick yourself up; the faster you can move on or start afresh. Failure wins only when you give in.

2. Failure is all part of the experience of growing up and character formation. Every child, when learning to walk, recognizes that when he falls he must pick himself up and make a fresh attempt. Some do it spontaneously and are soon moving on. Others wail and wait for someone to pick them up. They waste time seeking sympathy and in so doing keep back their own progress. Eventually, they all walk, run, jump and climb, but the pace at which this is achieved depends on each individual child’s response to failure.

3. Failure impels you out of your comfort zone. It reminds you that there is an essential ingredient called effort which must be used to attain success. It opens your eyes to the people out there who are achieving because they are working hard, so if you want to get ahead you had better let go of your complacency and get serious about succeeding.

4. Failure points to alternatives. It suggests that there might, in fact, be many better routes; you’re just on the wrong track. At least you know now that you can cross one approach off your list because it just did not work.

5. Failure teaches humility. “Pride cometh before a fall” and many a haughty person learns humility after a series of failures. Failure then, takes you down a peg or two and this might be necessary for personal growth.

6. Failure like adversity, helps you to see things from the other person’s perspective, to walk about in the other person’s shoes and therefore awakens humanity in you. It makes you understand that it can happen to you too and that even successful people can fail. Thus, it has the potential to build empathy and destroy egotism.

7. Failure is like a motivator; it fosters determination for if you are set on your goal, it only urges you to persevere. Consequently, you work harder and become more creative resourceful.

8. Failure singles out the good people in your life for these are the ones who stay with you in your down times when you need support and encouragement to move on. Likewise, it points out those on whom you should not waste time for they are only there when the weather is fine.

9. Failure points you toward God. Sometimes, God allows failure so that we can recognize that our successes are not the result of our ingenuity, but his grace. Often, we are so caught up with our ego that we take all the glory for our achievements and never pause to acknowledge God’s grace. Failure then brings us face to face with the Almighty.

10. Failure alternatively, can bring about negative emotions which erode whatever good previously existed- emotions such as bitterness and resentment, jealousy and grudge. Instead of looking inwards at self, at what ought or ought not to have been done and what now needs to be done, there is the tendency to selfishly look at the success of others and blame them for our failures. This is a very negative road to tread because it can only bring about negative outcomes such as stagnation and crime.

There are so many positive lessons to be learnt from failure that there is little reason why anyone should choose to surrender to the negatives rather than profit from the positives. Nonetheless, we are all human and everyone has to make their own life choices. As the saying goes, “different strokes for different folks”.