Failure can be a universally disheartening event. Often times, a shortcoming can lead a person to giving up on a task they once focused on so faithfully. This true failure, this end to all effort, is heartbreaking to observe. The idea that the inability to succeed in one particular circumstance is indicative of our ability to succeed ever is depressing and blatantly false. The principle of fight or flight applies not only to adrenaline, but error. Failure has the incredible capacity to incite defeat or determination. A failure that is not a conclusion, but an obstacle, is ideal. A temporary setback, so that you can continue to move forward and grow, avoiding the previous mistakes that led to the fault. We should have one that enables us to do what we are meant to do as people, and learn.
In classes I have always been the resident writer. I am the one other students use to make their work sound nice, and that the teachers accuse of over-fluffing their papers. English classes were cushy and provided me with the free A I needed to maintain my other classes. Sophomore year, I was given what felt like the only teacher who actually challenged her students. Her critiques of my papers infuriated me and the previously hardly-earned 100s on my papers were replaced with hard-earned 85s and 93s, rendering me to believe I was incapable of once again achieving a perfect english track record. I vividly remember her reading my short essay response as the ideal one for the class, and then receiving a 95 for using an absolute, when there had been an exception to my statement. I hardly ever use absolutes now, and I am forever grateful to my teacher for doing her job so well, and helping me to improve my writing skills.
Improvement can only take place in the absence of perfection. While the idea that we are all striving for perfection is a tiresome one, and leaves us to think that maybe it is easier to just give up now, it is kind of wonderful. We are all just working to be the best version of whatever we are. If scientists and doctors were to abandon their research at the first sign of difficulty or mistake, countless discoveries would have gone unmade. Chemo, penicillin, alternating currents and so many more, now vital, conclusions would not have been reached. Instead, these people continued to attempt to complete their goals, and provide new treatments and luxuries for the world. There is a certain charm in realizing the benefits we reap, due to the commitment of others to overcome trials and error.
Error is beautiful in nature. While my anger at a slightly imperfect grade seems frivolous, it genuinely led to a greater desire in me to improve my writing skills. I would be nowhere without my mild errors and perfectionist teacher who promoted growth in ways i never even thought to desire. Society would be nowhere if we merely believed that anytime difficulty overcame us, we should abandon our passions and our objectives. The world is greater because of error. The world is greater because of failure. The impossibility of the task before us is far easier to swallow with this knowledge, and life seems full of opportunity. To grow, to learn, and to create for the greater good.
