Benefits of Failing Always

Failure is a common experience for me as I grow up. I have been experiencing failure since my childhood days. I have disappointed many people. At a time in primary school, I could not understand our lingua franca. I failed junior school maths. I failed senior school Biology. I did not pass an undergraduate general study course, and I narrowly escaped failure in a core course. I performed below expectations in a postgraduate course. Thus, I failed in academics. It may appear there are some rays of hope in other ramifications, but not. I failed many times in my relationships with people, and unsuccessful in business. I did not realise my essence of living.

I have also failed to see failure from the correct perspective. I barely think of how I eventually came out of these messes. I was quick to judge myself in the light of setbacks I have experienced. Other people do the same to me. I felt they don’t understand my ordeal. Not all do. Am I now hopeless? Isn’t there anything I can do with my life? How did I even get here – failing from being a toddler? I fell several times until I injured myself but I didn’t give up because I will have limitations if I can’t walk like other children.

I see. Where are even those failures today? I mean the past failures I have accumulated. Why are they not added to the present ones? Oh, something happened along the journey to where I am now. I left my failures behind me, though not without some scars.

Failures can be devastating, discouraging and defeating. Like a progressive move from small to big successes, failure can increase progressively. Failure is a milestone. No, not a ‘milestone’, but a ‘mile’ ‘stones’. It is a journey with attributes of mileage and stones. Mileage is a distance to be covered in life, while stones (a massive rock) are the obstacles you must climb to the other side to continue on the part of successful achievement. Therefore, failure is inevitable.

Welcome failures with cheerfulness; overcome them with carefulness. Take a deep breath as you approach each one and prepare to climb. Don’t turn back. Resources have gone into the journey. Observe its massiveness. Climb progressively. Your experience with similar failures may not work now because things have changed. Times have passed. Weather conditions change at different times. Climate also changes from what it used to be due to global warming. Modern approaches occasioned by the digital age are replacing the traditional ones. You are probably at your 1300hr if you have a mileage of one day or 40 per cent if your total mileage is 100 per cent. When you eventually reach the other side of the stone, appreciate your efforts, but don’t rest. Develop stamina for the one ahead. There will be many more before you complete your mileage. Observe the terrain as you go. That may determine the nature of stone you will come by as you move on, and this will help you put on the necessary kits to climb without being hurt.

Let me remind you again that climbing can be hurting. Expect to stumble. Prepare for any eventuality. You may sustain minor or pronounced bruises even with your safety kits on you. It will heal up, ok? The scar it left you is for you to remember how it happened, how severe it was, and how you eventually overcame it. It is a real-life experience you cannot buy and will help climb the stones ahead. Motivational talks or coaching classes cannot offer it. It is practical, not hypothetical.

Failure is good, and failing is beneficial if you learn from it. Make the best use of your setbacks, big or small. Kindly share your experience as you tread the milestones of failure.

If you find this resourceful, do not hesitate to share. If otherwise, that may be a failure for an improved outlook. We move!