A GOOD PERSPECTIVE OF FAILURE

©️Abonyi Hyginus Ebuka

In a mini-conference that constituted group of young people, a question was asked, "What are you most afraid of?" Half of them replied, FAILURE. The laughable thing there is that I am also among the people who are afraid to fail. But guess what, we were still tender in thinking and we viewed failure as lack of success, the neglect or omission of expected or required action or a situation where something did not work out as expected.

We viewed failure from the perspective of the dictionary definition of failure. This is the mentality that was created in us right from nursery school. Do you know that the real failure is believing that there is really failure from the dictionary definition? What happens to a man first happens to him in his mind. The implication of failure from the dictionary definition is that it can lead to depression.

Many people have gone to being depressed because what they expected to go as planned didn't work for them and therefore, their moods become lowered  or enter into a state of bipolar disorder. What leads to that is all about what people will say about him/her and why orders succeed while he does not.

What if you see the word failure from this point of view 👉 A stepping stone to my success; a step to my success; I need to put more effort; l am already at the door of my success. In a journey of a thousand miles, millions of steps are needed and when a step is taken, it means that the journey is drawing closer. Know also that journey of a thousand mile, is never an easy road. Some steps might be smooth and some might be rough.

From this perspective of failure, many great people who have achieved great things in history viewed failure. In an interview with Albert Thomas Edison, the reporter asked him how he felt when he failed one thousand times (1,000)? He told the reporter that he did not failed rather the light bulb I invented was a journey of one thousand steps.

For Edison, Success which are great is built on frustration, failure and even catastrophy. So, view failure as one step ahead which you have crossed. Having this mind-set will energize you to work hard and think outside the box. Ask yourself, what have I not done right, what is missing from what I am doing and what should I do next to make it right?

People who emphasis on the importance of positive thinking reminds us that the way we think of things or us, is way that reflects  on us. When you become optimistic about a thing positive things come to you.

If you cannot view failure from this new perspective, delete it from your dictionary or give it a more suitable definition that is positive. When you do this, it helps make you to be stronger and tougher than before, make you to retreat to rethink and come back filled with more energy. It might also be a sign that you should rest small.

Most often, poeple tend to work 24/7, giving no room to rest and recreation. Remember, all work no play makes Jack a dull boy. Rest is very important because it keeps the body back to its normal state, for work reduces the body.

Finally, misstep is inevitable. A person that has not missed his step before is either a god or a demon. Man as a contingent being, is being limited in everything he does by his contingent nature, hence, he cannot be perfect in what he does.