Can Failure Be as Good as Success?

When is failing good? How do you feel when you have failed? Whether it is a test, a game, or a project that you have been working on for some time, failure is not something that is well accepted by most. Many people, not just educators, feel that when they failed at a task that it is the end of the world and are ready to give up on life in general. Many people become distraught or depressed with their failure.

How do you respond to failure?

Innovators look at a failure as a chance to make changes in their lives. Here are some examples:

1. In a failing situation, a unique opportunity is presented for each person to re-examine his or her goals and visions. When people are presented with this option, failure as a means to change provides a reason to make changes in their life-styles.

2. How do you know when you have failed? Sometimes individuals feel as though failure has occurred when in reality their efforts were successful, but not to the extent the individual desired. Many times our expectations are set too high, making them un-achievable in a reasonable
amount of time.

3. How can we learn from our failures? Education is not always based upon successes, but many times is based on failure. Teachers use student failures as a means to adjust their teaching to provide additional opportunities to become successful. Student failure creates a situation to look at
data collected through an assessment.

When young children touch a hot stove for the first time, they get a burn. This usually causes them not to repeat this procedure because of the pain they felt. The young child has used failure to learn.

When a car fails to start, we take it to a mechanic. When you have a tooth that is hurting you go to the dentist to get it fixed. When an educator fails to present subject material in a manner that all students can learn, it becomes a reason to re-teach the materials in a different way.

4. What good comes from relationship failures? Many times, as humans we seek companionship and without it we may feel a sense of failure. But how can this failure be so painful and hurtful, but still provide a new method to achieve success with new relationships?

As you can see, failure is only in the eyes of the beholder. No one likes to fail, but everyone loves to be successful to give themselves a sense of confidence and pride in their lives. Failure is just another step in life’s stairway to success, another bump in the road to achieving ones goal, and a green light to revisit life’s pathway.