I'm one of those people who does not accept failure well. Due to my anxiety and my Type A personality, I will but all of my energy towards whatever I am working on. Sometimes, that gives me the push that I need in order to finish strong and sometimes, I just do not succeed. But from those experiences I have learned the most critical thing, it is okay to fail. I, personally, take failure not as a defeat, but as an opportunity to improve. It's not the fact that you failed, it is what you proceed to do after the fact. Do you give up on everything? Do you wallow in your self-pity? Or do you take your failure and turn it into something magnificent?
Whether it is in a class, a life-lesson, or something that I am working on, I have figured out that the best way to learn is by doing. Yes, life is hard. No, life is not impossible. Regardless of how many times that we fail at any given activity, we must get up and come back stronger. You have to realize that you are human! You are going to make mistakes! It's in our nature. Take failure as an opportunity to humble yourself and figure out how you can improve for next time. Just because you fail at something does not mean that you are weak. We must learn to own our defeat.
I have a little secret for you: even the greatest people in history failed at some point. Thomas Edison tried over 10,000 ways to invent the light bulb and yet, he never gave up. He took each failure as a learning experience to grow and to thrive until he got it just right. Walt Disney was turned down hundreds of times for the financing of his parks. Did that stop him from creating one of the largest companies in the world? No. People thought that Albert Einstein was mentally handicapped just because he was behind on learning to speak and read.
We, along with society, put the most outrageous expectations on ourselves. We are expected to be perfect and to perform at a certain level. We are driven by our goals and the future, yet we are so critical of ourselves that we do not see what we are achieving along the way. Failure is part of the journey. Winston Churchill once said, "success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." Y'all, let this sink in. This is crucial. Success and failure go hand in hand. Though we may see failure as a complete defeat, it is rather a stepping stone that gets us to where we need to be.
We have to realize that success is not just a straight path. Though we envision the things that we want to do and what we have to do to get there, that does not mean that everything will go according to plan. You are going to have to take some detours and some setbacks. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom in order to build up again. The winds are going to blow, but it's the foundation that must remain firm. You have a decision to make when you fail: to let it define you and to go on with your life this way or to own it and adjust your course for the future.
So, my friends, do not be afraid to fail. Do not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and do things that you would not normally do. You have the chance to better yourself which each and every failure; do not waste that. Though there will be times when it is hard to see where your life is headed or how you will make it through your current trial, take heart and know that everything is contributing to the greater good. Beating yourself up after failing is not good for you. You have to adjust your mindset that is alternative to society and be joyful in trials. Embrace and learn. You've got this, y'all!
"Embrace failure. Missteps and roadblocks are inevitable but ultimately an opportunity to learn, pivot, and go after your goals with a new perspective." - Jenny Fleiss
Loyally,
Jamie
