Why Failure Is the Best Teacher You Will Ever Have

 

We have read and celebrated many success stories, but have we dived deeper and ever looked into the number of failures it took to build up that one success in life? Remember the first time you may have fallen off the cycle? Or that time when you failed an exam? Or burning your first batch of cookies?

I am 110% sure that if failure were a subject in school, we would all pass with flying colors, complete with glitter confetti and a slow-motion montage of tripping over shoelaces, spilling drinks over books, faceplanting along the way, and collecting certificates and awards of  “The Oops Master” or “The Graceful Tripper”,  and to the less lucky kids an “A+ for effort”. Think of failure as the world’s most personal masterclass.

Have you ever looked at little children when they learn how to crawl and walk? They stumble and fall at every step they take; they may even cry a little, but they don’t ever give up on trying to walk. Their motivation might be just to reach for a toy or to reach their parents. And they don’t just randomly start walking one day; it takes days, weeks, or even months. They might be lying on the floor or sitting in a baby seat, but they are fascinated with the movements around them. Even the movement of a pet around the house, or any object being moved around, they learn those movements and try to replicate them; this method is called vicarious learning, or learning by observation and imitation. The children, too, have many oops moments, like accidentally wetting the bed in their sleep. They may be embarrassed, but they do try to get over it and gain control of their body requirements over time. If the children don’t give up, then why do we? Why are we afraid to own up to our “Oops” moments? Why do we get embarrassed? Why do we hate being judged for our oops? Our oops may define us, but how we overcome them and learn from them matters more. We should be carefree and ignore the critiques of society, and then we will realise we have a lot of cheerleaders waiting for us to be free birds, just waiting to capture the moments of our success. These people beam with happiness at the news of our success, and we should work hard for them.

Take the stones people throw at you and use them to build a monument.” Take this chance to turn your setbacks into opportunities rather than letting them defeat you. Be the love you never received.

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