You know, I would like to watch a movie documentary on the life of Thomas Edison if there was one. He was the inventor of the light bulb and sources say he failed 999 times and then succeeded at his 1000th attempt. Hence, there’s a saying associated with this myth which goes,
“I have not failed 1000 times rather, I have discovered 1000 ways that won’t work”.
I wonder how true all this is but if it is, let us look at the bold statement above.
There is something that needs to be established about Success and Failure. Neither rule over the other as they go hand in hand because success is failure turned upside down. For you to discover how something really works, you must have failed at it. And if you haven’t, someone else has so you can know how.
I don’t think to compare success and failure because I know that first and foremost, success isn’t a destination. It is a journey and like every journey, there are potholes, bad roads, people and even detours. There will be experience and these events shape us. So, on your journey towards success, there will be failures. These are required so you can with conviction know what is right and what works.
Failure comes with its sting just like success comes with its joys. As you travel that road, you’re taught patience, forbearance, determination, endurance. All these are necessary to forge good and amiable qualities. Like everything of this world, there are two sides. The Yin and Yang; good and bad. It’s a double edged sword.
The truth is failure isn’t really failure unless you say it is. You haven’t stopped until you give up. You haven’t lost unless you give up. Failure is a teacher but so many receive its lessons with the wrong disposition. They define themselves from the results of a lesson rather than the possible outcome of the journey. To them failure is concrete.
Success on the other hand seems impossible. Firstly, it is measured by material things and not the things that do matter. It becomes a destination and early arrival results in the untimely demise of unsuspecting folks. They become satisfied and pitch their tent in the land of “Enough”. Then it begins to lose its luster and all of a sudden, they become failures.
It’s an endless loop, a timeless circulation. It all depends on how we choose to interpret it. Our views is all that matters in the end. As for mine, failure and success go hand in hand. No one triumphs above the other except that one comes with gladness and the other with tears. One requires a fortified sense of purpose and the other is the statement of result. Still, they are two sides of the same coin, the Yin and Yang.
All images are mine
