FAILURE
Failure is defined as falling short, being deficient, being found lacking. Many of us fear failure, even regard failure as some sort of moral deficiency. We do everything we can to avoid failure, even to the point of not trying things where we might fail. We do everything we can to avoid feeling a failure, even where objective evidence, an honest appraisal, real self-knowledge would say we failed.
Many years ago a successful investor told me a different story. He said he looked for people who had failed at something in making his investments because they were most likely to deal successfully with adversity in their next business. A recent article in USA WEEKEND expanded on this theme and related it to our current economy. It noted the optimism of dot-commers, athletes and others in the face of failure and described the lessons learned.
The message is simple: You learn from failure if you don't let failure stop you. In at least two ways, failure can help you. First, if you can realistically examine why you failed, you can avoid failure the next time. And, by the way, realism in this sense means especially avoiding blaming others. Let's accept that our failures are our own. Even if others were involved, even if we were betrayed, even if we were cheated or defrauded, learn to avoid that sort of person the next time. Second, if you pick yourself up from the floor and go forward, you'll learn the most important lesson of all: Never give up. I won't bore with stories about people like Ray Kroc who achieved success very late in life. Suffice it to say that you can't fail as long as you're still trying.
We don't wish for failure. I wish everyone could succeed, get whatever they want out of life. But I know that won't happen. So let's wish that we can respond positively to failure when it comes. Let's learn the lessons of failure, let's never give up. Let's also be forgiving of our failures and the failures of others. Let's avoid the trap of attributing failure to bad personal qualities and try to help those around us to overcome their failures and succeed. As I constantly urge, helping others is the path to personal success and helping others who have failed is particularly praiseworthy.
4-2-01
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