Failure Is Good

I used to think that I had to know everything in order to speak or to write about something. The truth is, I didn't have to be an expert to share my experience with the world. I didn't have to be Bill Nye "The Science Guy" in order for me to share what I know.

I want you all here that are reading this blog post to understand that you have your own unique experiences that you deserve to share with the world.

For this post I want to dive into something I used to fear so much; which is FAILURE. I used to be so afraid to fail because I thought failure equated to utter disappointment. But I am here to tell anyone willing to read this post, "DON'T BE AFRAID TO FALL."        

I fully understand how crippling failure can appear to be. You have to realize failure only has as much power as you give it. Failing is not what makes or breaks you. What makes or breaks you is how you decide to move forward.

I can share you multiple situations where someone was completely justified in wanting to give up; but instead they rose and overcame what might have seemed like the biggest fight of their life.  

• Example 1: The first guy is a ficitional character but this story is very real. If you haven't had the chance to watch this movie by Tyler Perry, I recommend you do. Exhibit A is Robert from Acrimony. Robert is the long time partner of Melinda Gayle; in fact they were married. Robert had this invention that he believed wholeheartedly would revolutionize the world. Robert believed in this invention so much that he let go of his marriage and turned down a hefty check because he knew the reward was greater. Mind you this man practically has NOTHING to his name. After Robert and Melinda go their separate ways, Robert finally hits JACKPOT. Had he given up on his dream long before then what would his life had looked like after?    
• Example 2: Steve Harvey, one of the original Kings Of Comedy and is also well known as the host of Family Feud and the Steve Harvey Show amongst other major accomplishments. Mr. Harvey often talk about how he used to have a stammering problem. His stammering problem was so bad that he wouldn't talk outside of his house. Steve Harvey has been fired from over nine jobs. At one point he was living in his car. He has had to split everything he has ever own twice due to divorce. Despite everything he has been through, he has come out on top. Now we can't turn on our television's without seeing Steve Harvey on at least one channel.
• Example 3: The LEGENDARY TINA TURNER. Tina Turner is the QUEEN of Rock and Roll who is the literal embodiment of WINNING. Talk about a woman who grew up in the dirty south, was abandoned by both of her parents and was married to a not so gentle fellow. Mrs. Turner has truly experienced some trials and tribulations. Tina Turner was able to rejuvinate her career in her mid forty's and THRIVE. Not only did she flourish, but she became bigger than she ever was. Tina Turner did not allow her past to keep her down no matter how much the public tried to keep her in that hurt. In addition to having a successful career, she was able to start her life again with a happy marriage after the first marriage she had. Rest In Peace to the Queen of Rock and Roll.      

Do you think life was rosey for all of the people I listed above? Of course not. Everything these people have cost them sleepless night, blood, sweat, tears, money, etc. Do you think these people never heard "no?" Of course, they did but they kept going.

There are so many great people that have walked this earth that could have let their hard days keep them down but didn't. This article gives you many more examples to look at for inspiration if you're curious.

https://www.wanderlustworker.com/48-famous-failures-who-will-inspire-you-to-achieve/

Someone once told me,

"I trust the people who passed the test the second time. You know that they really studied. People that passed the first time around may have just gotten lucky." -Random Lady from my past

My Personal Story On How Failure Has Helped Me:

STORY A: It's okay to fail. It's okay because with failure comes a huge lesson. I remember playing Super Mario Bro's on my Nintendo DS and how much I struggled passing some of the most difficult levels. I used to be so frustrated to the point where I would cry and give myself a headache just trying to beat this difficult level with Bowser. Everytime I lost a life I would come back ten times harder because I knew how to navigate the game a bit better. I knew what loopholes there were and what paths to avoid. Finally, when I beat the level I filled with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment because it had been a long time coming. I was so proud of myself for all the work I had put in.  

STORY B: I have been learning to code for a while. In fact, I recently just felt like I got decent with it; although does one really even master coding, the tech world moves so fast; but that's besides the point. I remeber one day specifically where I was following a tutorial on youtube for a project I was trying to add to my portfolio and, to my knowledge, I followed everything the instructor was doing word for word. For some reason, lost to me at the time, I could figure out what I did wrong. Guess what I did. I deleted all the work I did and I wrote the whole code from scratch, being very careful with every piece of code that I wrote. After deleting all the code I had typed up I still managed to miss something, HOW??!! Out of frustration, I ended up taking a long hard break. The long hard break being starting something fresh. I later returned to this project on two different occasions and after 2 weeks I was able to complete this particular project. The crazy part is the mistakes I made weren't even terrible; they were minor. They were things I just didn't pay attention to because I was a begineer and didn't understand much of what I was doing. But now, I feel like I'm a much better programmer because of this project. I learned what not to do and I'mm positive I won't make such mistakes in the future; or at least they won't take me as long to figure out.

Why you should embrace failure?

With failure comes LESSONS. With failure you are allowed to say that you at least tried. Failing doesn't mean you are loser. It's only when you didn't try that you can then be filled with regret.  You should be proud of yourself for even trying. Being brave enough to try is already signs of you being a winner.

As a beginner, failure is important. Failure build charater and makes the story of the journey so much sweeter. Imagine two people go through the woods and you're excited to hear their stories. Person A looks like they've been through hell while Person B looks unarmed, like you can they didn't experience anything. Who's story would you prefer to hear? Person B? I think not. Person A clearly has much more to tell and chance are you'll have a new found respect for person A because you can physically see the struggles person A has overcome.

The Truth About Being A Beginner

People who are beginners, who have mastered beginner level material, are most often way better at teaching other beginners about a certain topic. Here is why?

• Beginners are much more patient than intermidate to advanced/experts.
• Beginners are much more understanding and can relate to their peers/fellow beginners.
• Experts can sometimes come off as intimidating to beginners because no one want to sound like they are "asking a dumb question."
• It's much easier for beginners to come together and solve a problem than to simply rely on one person who knows everything. "Two heads are better than one."

Summary

Failure can a good thing. Just don't stay in the filth of self-pity. Sure there may come a time where you hit rock bottom which is ok. After you hit that cold dark pit that is "'rock bottom" scratch and claw your way out back up. Afterall, there is no where to go but up.

Special Thanks!

Thank you all for reading this post. I hope I was able to inspire someone somewhere in the world today. Thank you all for your support.

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