Accompanied with every obstacle we face in life, is a lesson to be learned. Whether we feel defeated or like a conqueror, all our challenges form us into stronger individuals . It is highly encouraged in our society to succeed, and while success is sweet, it is not entirely good to be a complete success. Failure is an experience that is necessary to build substance. If a person were to be a winner at everything they do, then what would be the purpose of learning in life?
Every master was once a novice. To be a pro one needs to be a rookie first, and that means we need to fail every now and again. I have failed more times than I can possibly count. It is a positive thing to fail because we learn from our errors and adjust our course of action.
One prominent failure of mine was the time I dropped out of high school. On October 7, 2019 just one day before my 18th birthday I was forced into homelessness. My grades and attendance began to gravely suffer in my last semester of my senior year as a result of my new life circumstances. The failure came in when I decided that there was no more hope for my future, and I ultimately walked into the office of the registrar and demanded that I be unenrolled effective immediately! I was out of school for a month after dropping out, and my life didn’t improve one bit after making that huge decision. To be completely honest, I was beginning to regret my decision; however, I struggled to find reasons as to why I even deserved to pursue a high school diploma. Some mountains can’t be climbed without the help of others. It wasn’t until a very important person in my life came to me, that I was convinced to give it another shot, and that it wasn’t too late to graduate with the rest of my class. After much persuasion, I took that leap of faith in myself, I went back to high school, and I finished stronger than I ever thought possible.
So, how does failure create character substance? When failure occurs, we experience dissatisfaction with ourselves, our efforts, and our abilities to achieve. We are humbled by failing, and more importantly we are taught that we cannot hold the weight of the world on our shoulders. Failure also adds substance to our character by making us relatable. It shows others that we are not so different from one another.
When someone has failed there is nothing left for them to do but succeed. Failure is pre-success, because after failing we gain wisdom that will inevitably guide us towards achievement. It is through the process of trial and error that people begin to fail less and less with each challenge they encounter. Appreciation for our failures begins to develop because they do make for a darn good story for when we do succeed.
With an abundance of failure, one possesses an abundance of knowledge which can help another person who may be fighting a similar battle, and just like that we have turned our failure into a success. The only true failure in this life is the act of deciding to not keep trying. Success is in our souls, but we need to fail to find it. Remember that our obstacles are only obstacles! They do not represent the end of the road.