Extended Definition Essay

Failing Forward

As the Great Confucius had once said, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Indeed, it is truly impossible to go through life without experiencing any kind of failure. It is a part of life, and as we know life is a mixture of success and failures. However, even if one considers that the fear of failure is the greatest barrier to success and one of the biggest fears in life, one should not worry because failures can add up to one’s experiences which will lead him to the road of success. Know that failures are not the opposite of success. Failures are our stepping stones to success. It just means that if we have failed in a thing or two, we should not treat it as another burden that we are about to carry. Instead, place them under our feet and use them as stepping stones to rise above them.  

            Failures are brought about by many factors. First is laziness. Laziness can be the start of one’s downfall. If one is just sitting there waiting in the corner, nothing good will happen. Actually, one would not fail at anything if he/she does not make the attempt. By that, one would not also succeed. Another thing is that failure is not the only punishment for laziness, there is also the success of others. Because, “If you do not play the game to win, someone else will” (Renard, 1910). The second cause for failure probably is one’s negative outlook or pessimistic attitude in life. It is said that an optimist sees every opportunity in difficulty, whereas a pessimist sees every difficulty in an opportunity. That just implies that optimism can lead to achievement while pessimism to failure. Lack of focus and concentration towards the goal can also be considered as another factor for failure. We need to have focus while we are driving towards our destination, which is success. Because if not, we might already be wandering in the wrong way because we keep turning right and left, which might lead us towards a dead end. Another reason for immediate failure is giving up. Giving up means to surrender in front of the problems we are facing in achieving our goal. Giving up means accepting the failure. Remember that every success story has a trail of failures behind it, so giving up is not the solution. Lastly, lack of faith and confidence in oneself can also be considered as one major cause of failure. It is man’s lack of faith that generally causes failures because there is no doubt about the fulfillment of a desire if man’s faith works with it. On the other hand, if at first we have no confidence in ourselves, we are already twice defeated in the race of life. But with confidence, we have won before we have started ( Garvey, n.d.).

            Failure indeed is necessary if we are to achieve success in life. Unfortunately, many people do not know how to overcome it. But overcoming the fear of failure is essential because that fear can stop us from reaching our full potential in life. So how can we overcome failure? To begin with, we have to understand that failure in life brings us wisdom. We have to experience failure for a reason, for experiencing it will give us the wisdom we need to succeed. Each failure we encounter adds up to our wisdom and brings us one step closer to success.  Understand that failure can teach us about the value of will-power, self-discipline, persistence and most importantly, hard work. Second is to learn as much as possible from the mistakes we have committed in the past. We have to see each failure as an opportunity to learn. Because if we fail to do this, we may waste a lot of time repeating the same mistakes in the future. Come to think of this. How did we learn to ride a bike? The answer: We first fell off a hundred times before becoming steady and gaining balance. So every time we fail or make a mistake, we need to learn as much as we can from it so that we are better prepared the next time around. The third one is about never losing focus towards the means in achieving our goal. We really have to keep our mindset straight forward towards our destination because that will bring us to the next point. The fourth one is concern about the essence of never giving-up. According to Thomas Edison, a noted inventor, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” So that just means that we should never give-up because maybe we are only one step away from the success we have always wanted. Why waste that long journey we have passed when in fact we are already close to our destination? Thomas Edison knew what it means of having the guts and not giving-up. He failed more than a thousand times before he came up with the successful light bulb. Truly indeed patience is the key. Another important thing to do to overcome failure is to have that positive mindset and to be confident. One must believe in his/her self that he/she got what it takes to surpass any obstacle or problems that may come in his/her life.  We must always be positive, and give everything our best shot. Last but not the least, keep on dreaming.

            We do know that not everyone who is on top today got there with success after success (Venable, n.d.). Oftentimes, those people who are best remembered by history are those who faced numerous challenges and failures on the way that forced them to work harder and enabled them to be one of those remarkable persons in history. Now let me show a glimpse of some stories about these great people who had first a bumpy start in life, but later on, came on top because they chose to succeed. Let’s start with the story of an American president. He was a man whose business failed at the age of 21, the love of his life died at the age of 26. He experienced nervous breakdown at the age of 27, and he was defeated in 8 elections. Yet this particular man became the 16th president of the United States and remembered as one of the greatest leaders in the history of America. His name is Abraham Lincoln. Next, this man was cut from his high school basketball team. He had missed more than 9000 shots in his basketball career. He had lost almost 300 of his games, and on 26 occasions, had been entrusted to take the game winning shot, but missed. As stated by this man; “I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” He was Michael Jordan. Lastly, this guy was not able to speak until he reached the age of 4. He did not read until the age of 7. He was deemed even by his own parents as mentally retarded, slow and anti-social and was told by his teacher that he would not become anybody in life. Contrary to all probabilities, in 1921, this simple man won the Noble Prize in Physics and changed the face of modern physics. This guy was greatly known by the world by the name of Albert Einstein. These stories are truly very inspiring and worth-to-read. Inferring from these stories, we can see that these great people used their failures and hardships as stepping stones. Failure did not serve as a hindrance to these people from attaining their goals and becoming extra-ordinarily successful in life.

            In one way or another we will experience failure in life. But we should treat it as a positive thing because it can change so much in our lives. It will help change our vision and fuel up our determination. Know that only through facing battles and experiencing trials and hardships can we be strengthened, our vision in life cleared, confidence built, faith stronger and success/victory in life achieved. Failure can mold us and prepare us towards our journey to becoming a winner. Remember that the finest steel gets strengthened through the hottest furnace (Nixon, n.d.). Certainly, success and failure go hand in hand. But failure is something that many people fear, yet they do not realize that it is the true key to unlock success. So instead of viewing failure as something to be feared of, turn it into a "stepping-stone" on the path to success and gratification. Because in the end, one will realize that success is the destination and failure is the means to get there.

References:

Failure. (2011).In Merriam-Webster.com.Retrieved from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/failure

Irabor, M.(2011, May 1).7 tips to overcome failure.Retrieved from http://stressguide101.blogspot.com/2011/05/7-tips-to-overcome-failure-.htm

Prasad, R. (2012, August 23). 50 Famously Successful People Who Failed At First.Retrieved, from http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/02/16/50-famously-successful-people-who-failed-at-first/