What would life be if we were to succeed in everything we did? What if there was nothing called ’failure’?? I’m sure most of you will agree if I say- life would then had become boring and unchallengeable. Today’s world is full of lazy minds looking for shortcuts to success, reading books on success mantras, etc. But despite all this, at the end of the day each individual does thrive for that minimum quota of success required for his or her satisfaction. In the process the person faces obstacles and if he is not able to cross them due to some reason or the other, he terms his attempt to be a failure. Instead of taking failure as a lesson most of us take it as a mistake which we try never to repeat in future. In today’s society failure has become something to fear, avoid and prevent at all costs. This is where a person goes wrong. One must understand that failure can act as a guide to more worthwhile activities. We learn new skills in life and most of them we learn only after failing to do them properly. It’s very important to etch in our minds that we cannot distance ourselves from failure. We can succeed in a particular thing, but it doesn’t ensure the same for our future prospects. So, it’s better to expect for the best but be prepared for the worst. It’s useless to shield oneself from failure as that would seriously affect your future success prospects. Be bold enough to accept that you have failed.
Failure teaches us many things that success doesn’t. Firstly, getting easy and quick success can make a person complacent. But a person who has witnessed failure always keeps himself humble at times of success. He is matured enough to understand that there is nothing to over boost about his achievements. He knows many more hurdles are waiting for him, during which he has to face the pain of the thorns. Chances of failure can never be averted. This is life, an inseparable mixture of success and failure.Once someone fails, the individual gets that valuable opportunity to assess himself. Where did I go wrong? How can I improve myself? He gets that time to understand and self-motivate himself. It is then that one comes up with an alternate approach and starts believing that yes I can succeed. Eventually success gets even sweeter when you accomplish something after series of setbacks. Failure is indeed an opportunity to achieve success. It teaches us what not to do and pushes us to look for another approach until we find one that works. Failure ultimately checks how resolute and tough one is.
We're all human and it's human to hate failure. I think it's especially difficult for us as adults. Because we're older, we feel we should succeed more quickly than we did when we were young. So we slip back into the attitude we had when we were young. We start fearing failure and get easily frustrated. But now we usually lack an older authority, a "parent", to keep us on track. We have to do it ourselves. We can end up being focused on our limitations instead of on our potential and its then that we "fail". If we want our middle age to be successful, we have to learn that failure is important and shouldn't be feared. It should be seen for what it is, a step on the road to success.
No one can guess the number of failed attempts one has to make to achieve something. It all depends on the person’s approach and how competent he is for the goal he is thriving for. One must be convinced that he is trying for the right thing and should approach it with maximum confidence, skill and dedication. Try avoiding being deliberately over precautionary in fear of failure that might be lurking around. There are scores of examples of people who achieved what they desired to be in spite of initial failures.
It’s very rightly said that “failures are stepping stones to success”. Indeed failure is an inspiration in disguise.
-PRASENJIT CHAUDHURI
