The Power of Failure

Yes your retinas have read right. The power of failure! Success has hoisted its flag on majority of the written, spoken or audio-visual creation. We are so head-deep in savouring the joys and euphoria stemming out of success that nobody is talking about where it came from? Success is not orphaned; but often, fraught with perils of abandonment, we are afraid of catching it by shoulder and popping the question, “who is your father?” Because more often than not, failure is the father of success! But like an ungrateful son, having inherited a respectful status in the society, it feels ashamed of its not-so-elite father and is keen on covering its tracks and closing the chapter on him. That’s why we see the success glowing in the flashes of shutterbugs, not the failure sitting in a dark corner.

Many of you will shake your head in acknowledgement when I say Thomas Alva Edison fathered the invention of light bulb. But how many of you know that before that he failed more than a thousand times at it? Ah, and for doubt maniacs, not figuratively, but literally. 1000-plus times! I bet, flicking through the pages of history, you would bump into zillions of such examples where initial failure has been followed impeccable success.

So is that it? The ultimate success-mantra? That you have to taste the dust of failure before getting to savour the cherries of success? Well, that’s the tricky part. Failure does not imply success but success, in most cases, does imply failure; whatever of sort. Sounds mindboggling? Let’s throw some light on ear-gripping words that Thomas Alva Edison said after finally inventing the light bulb. He said that he had not failed a thousand times. He had just succeeded in discovering a thousand ways how not to make a light bulb. That’s the frame of mind which moves mountains.

Each failure that slaps hard across your face teaches you to endure the pain and evade the probability of next blow.  With each failure you come one step closer to success. More than anything, anyone who has suffered defeat at the hands of failure, learns to value true worth of the success in question. That is if you learn your lessons the right way.

If you have been showered with success in life, you can become a good leader. And if you have been through the dark alleys of failure, you can become a good teacher. Success is a destination, itinerary to which is full of hardships. It is these hardships that test your character. They define what you are made of. Quickly melting ice-cube or ungiving alloy. It is what decides your odds of getting a hug from success. Yes, it is the power of failure!