Failure is always an option

Failure is always an option

Thomas Edison was once reportedly asked how it felt to fail 10,000 times at making the light bulb to which he famously responded that he had not failed, he just found 10,000 ways it won’t work. When dealing with failure or loss you have one of two options. First you can let it destroy you, get upset and let it eat away at you. Option number two would be to let it fuel you, let it drive you, let it motivate you and learn from it. The choice is squarely on your shoulders.

Failure comes in many forms. You can fail to make the team, you can lose the game, and you can lose your spot as a starter. Failure though is not only found in sports, it is also in our day to day lives, fail a test or fail at getting the job you wanted or promotion you were looking for. Your reaction to failure though is what will inevitably define whether you succeed or not.

If you choose to let your failure destroy you, you will never advance. When you allow failure to get the better of you, you inevitably become failure. By succumbing to your failure you will inevitably give up and attempt to find something else to do.

If on the other hand you become motivated from your failure, you will grow drastically. Failure isn’t meant to destroy you, it is meant to build you up. It is meant to motivate you.

Failure is always an option. Failure is not something to be feared. Failure is something that should be embraced and encouraged. Now you shouldn’t go looking for failure, but when you do fail (and you will fail eventual) accept it and grow from it.

The question isn’t did you fail, the question is what did you learn from your failure? Failure is inevitable, everyone fails at something at some point in their lives. Failure does not mean you can’t achieve, failure is the process of learning to achieve. If you had given up learning to walk when you were a baby after falling down, you would still be crawling right now. If you pack up and give up every time you fail at something you will never find something that you truly want and you will never become truly great. But, if you look at failure as a learning opportunity, you will grow drastically.
We have a tendency to look at those who have succeeded and only see their successes. Mozart, Einstein, Roger Federer all have one thing in common, they will all go down in history as geniuses who changed the world and revolutionized their individual fields. There is a story of a young basketball player who failed to make his varsity team during his sophomore year of high school. Instead of allowing this to destroy him and give up, his failure motivated him to work harder and become better. Michael Jordan, as you may know, went on to become one of the greatest, if not the greatest basketball player of all time. It was all because he chose to fight for what he wanted after failing rather than giving up.