Failure a blessing?

We should have a love/hate relationship with failures. On the one hand, they are learning lessons; on the other they are haunting albeit stimulating specters. They should be respected and feared but not to the point of complacency or paralysis.

They should be respected because nothing like the fear of failure can monopolize every ounce of resourcefulness and energy available. They should be feared because that's what gives them significance.

A man who has not suffered failures is by that same token a failure. He is a failure because he has never moved out of his comfort zone, never pushed his limits and therefore has never really grown.

Great achievements are built on past failures. Nothing really great ever was created on the first try. Someone pushed to the point of failure, lessons were learned, new strategies were devised and success was ultimately achieved.

A world-class athlete will fail ten thousand times before he ever puts his hand on the first medal. Great achievers leave behind them stories of heart wrenching failures. The stories of success are written on the pages of past failures.

We may get a lot of satisfaction from our successes but unless they brought us dangerously close to the brinks of failure, very little learning and growing was achieved. Growth is the result of outstretching existing resources, something that is best done when facing the abyss of a possible failure.

We have to learn to cohabit with failures if we really desire to evolve and grow. We must understand that it's a necessary evil on the path to self-actualization. There is no glory and no quantum leap in personal growth without some failures. It's a force that we need to tame and control.

An excessive fear of failure has a paralyzing effect and too little fear of it has a debilitating effect. Excessive fear will kill attempts toward worthwhile objectives and too little fear will instill complacency and precociously terminate what could have been achieved with more sustained efforts.

Sports give us an excellent example as to how failures should be viewed. No player ever wants to lose but the fear of losing will not stop him or her from playing the game. The same attitude should be taken in professional life. A battle lost is not the end of the war. Winning means getting up one more time than we have fallen down.

Only the strong ego can stare at failure and not crumble under the pressure. Only a person of valor can remain unscathed by the criticism and the cynicism that always accompanies a defeat. It takes a healthy self-esteem to stay above the onslaught of public opinion in difficult times.

Failures should be seen as battle scars and should be worn like badges of honor. They are the hallmarks of the warrior and a symbol of courage. So long as the battle was valiantly fought, failure is nothing to be ashamed off. Nobody wants or likes to fail. Unfortunately it's an inherent part of life and whether we like it or not, we have to deal with it.

There are three things that should be remembered about failures:

1) Paralysis caused by the fear of failure is the worst of all failures.
2) So long as everything has been done to avoid failure, failing is nothing to be ashamed off.
3) We should wear the scars of valiantly fought albeit lost battle as a Badge of Honor. They are testimonials of strength and courage.