If you FAIL to FAIL, you are destined to FAIL!

A Tale of Failures and Successes

It occurred to me, rather unexpectedly, that I could not bear to imagine that I failed an exam – even a minor test.

I could not come to terms with me failing a paper. I was brought up that way.

I was told, since I was young, that if you do not study well, you fail your exams. So I equated failing an exam to 'not studying hard'.

I was told, that if you fail your exams, you will not be able to find yourself a decent job and you would have to struggle to make a living. It strikes fear into me, further exemplifying the horrors of 'failing' in my young mind.

Somewhere in 1997, I stumbled across a book in the bookstore – Dare to Fail, by Billy Lim. I thought it was a joke.

In my short adult life, I have tried a number of pursuits, some succeeded, some failed.
True to the way I was educated, whenever I failed, I became upset.

I was trained to accept that failure is synonymous with inability;
I was also trained to think that failure is weakness exposed.

I was educated, and trained to think likewise,

I did not question – Is this the only truth? Or is it the truth at all?

Confucius said – Failures are the source of all subsequent successes.
I read this in primary school, I took it with a pinch of salt;
Today, I was made to regret my ignorance.

Failures are the source of all subsequent successes.

Professionals are trained to avoid mistakes;
Entrepreneurs understand the importance of making mistakes;
Therefore the two do not mix.

If a person is made to fail a certain number of times before he tastes success,
are these failures not something to rejoice about?
For they only draw you nearer to the eventual desired outcome.

If these failures are eventual encounters along the journey to the ideal,
is it not true that,
If you fail to go through these failures,
you are destined to fail to reach the desired outcome?

Fear not and fail, as much as possible.
If you fail to fail, you eventually fail.