Failure is an option
Have you seen babies when they are about to stand or take the first step? They pick themselves up each time they fall.
AT TIMES it hurts and they cry but after a while they are at it again. They are so determined to succeed on their mission that a few falls on the way will not stop them.
When success is your ultimate result, you should be prepared for a couple of failures along the way.
How many of you have heard the term, failure is not an option? This statement was made popular by a movie based on true events of
NASA’s missions. The lead astronaut of that mission went on to write an autobiography by that title. Not taking away the great work they do, I have witnessed some documentaries which showcase what NASA does.
They run a couple of trials making sure that all is in order before the actual mission.
What is interesting is in these tri- als, like any other trials failure is an option.
They learn more from the failures in these trials so that the actual mission will eventually be successful.
This happens in our life too. Whenever you are embarking on a mission, be it learning to ride a bicycle, drive or preparing for final year exams, you have moments were failure is the option that perfects your art. You learn more from failure than from success.
When you say failure is not an option you put great fear and an unwillingness to attempt risky activities.
Imagine if the little child would have that mindset and he or she falls on an attempt to walk or stand, he or she would just sit back and say if failure is not an option then why risk it by trying to walk.
Failure is an option but it should not be the final result. Let it be a platform to perfect your act before the expected end result is achieved. An interesting story is that of the great inventor, Thomas Edison.
When he was trying to create the light bulb, he failed a lot. Some say it took him a 1 000 attempts while others say 10 000 but whichever it was, it was a lot of attempts.
Yet when asked about his failures he said something interesting, “Now I know 999 (or 9 999) ways of how not to make a light bulb!” he said. So many other great people in history have had epic failures but their end result was successful which we know them for.
As a young man or woman you have a great advantage to journey on as you are expected to fail and make the wrong turns a couple of times.
Take that time to teach yourself a lot about life. Do not fail to pick yourself up when you fall.
Study why you fell and you might need to ask yourself the following questions: was I moving too fast, did something trip me that I did not see before, were my shoelaces tied properly, or was I wearing the right size shoe? When you fail you have a great opportunity to learn from it so that you will avoid it next time.
Unfortunately a great many of us cry and then when they forget they try again but using the same steps that contributed to their fall.
You may cry, but that should be a temporary situation but you will need to get back to your feet.
Do not be afraid to fail, there is a popular term also used by tech companies, I understand they have a term that says, fail fast, fail often! For the teenagers failing often would be good so that you learn a lot of the lessons of life early and at a time when your failures do not impact that much.
Your failure as a teenager is better off than as a parent because that will affect the whole family. Go ahead and fail and when you learn from it that means you are doing something positive!