failure

When growing up I learned about failure.

I was taught not to fail by working. It was never a problem for me as I was probably a bit too bright for my own good. Failure was regarded as BAD. You must never fail! Avoid failure at all costs. Does this thinking sound familiar to you? So I worked just enough to pass. Pity. My problem was I had discovered chess. I studied the game daily throughout my high schooling career. Nothing else interested me. It must be remembered in those days of the early to late 1970's there was no such thing as the internet. Also South Africa is geographically isolated from the rest of the world. It was also isolated politically for the policy of Apartheid. So chess was learned through play and study of the few books found in the municipal library. You could not be lazy and had to set up a board and replay the moves you read about. I learned to question the commentary of chess authors, I learned not to believe everything I read.

Yet this philosophy is completely and utterly wrong. 100% wrong. Yet I never realised this until much later in my life. I developed the approach to life "learn from the mistakes of others, why be stupid and suffer unnecessarily ?" The first intimations that not all failure is bad came from the remarkable life of Thomas Edison, the famed inventor of the light bulb. His most famous quote was "I haven't failed I have just found 10 000 ways that won't work. He failed often, and was humiliated in the press. Yet it never seemed to deter him from continuing to try. What gave him his edge? Did he live in a small family? (He was the youngest of seven, imagine if his mother had stopped at six children?). His formal education was stopped by his mother after he was classed as "addled", a word that means stupid and confused. Fortunately the formal schooling had not destroyed his creativity. Fortunately his mother was a great teacher. When he had been taught all he could by his mother, he continued educating himself by reading. But his great love was experimenting. He blew up lots of things, he got fired lots. Yet he became one of the greatest inventors of his time. I am not talking about his morality or ethics or anything related to that. I am speaking about a man whose mind never stopped trying out new things.

How many others do we see who are just like that? Incredibly hard working, passionate and even obstinate.

You see failure can destroy us if we have the wrong attitude to it, if we fear it.

Great people look at failure not as a dead end but as something to climb over. Their goal or dream lies beyond that obstacle.

What about wealthy people, the super rich? In our socialist world, they are condemned, judged as exploiters of the poor. Many look in envy at them, saying just how "lucky" they are, if only I could have the breaks in life that they had.

By profession I am an accountant, so I often get to see these creatures up close. How many times have they failed? Lost every single thing that they had? Yet they can get up (with nothing) and make another fortune. Incredible. It is never about the size of their paycheck or business profits, it is about their passion.

Personally I have never had too much of a drive for money. Yes the stuff is nice and I love spending it but it comes nowhere close to what interests me in life. What I like I can do. I can do what I want to do.

As I got older, I realised that challenges, problems are actually my friends. I relish them because they stimulate my mind. I love problems at work.

Did you ever consider just how boring work would be if you did the same old thing, day after day without any problems? YETCH!!

Some friends of mine chucked up their corporate careers to become small holding farmers!! Fantastic, incredible adventurers! No risk, no reward (and I am not talking about financial returns only). Can they fail? Possibly. Will they succeed? I certainly hope so. Will they be the same kind of people that they once were? Nope. Will they want to return to their former lives? I am sure the answer will be "NEVER".

In the one company where I worked, a decision made by senior management, lost the company many thousands of Rands. The owner said philosophically (and even calmly), this is not a loss but a R40 000 lesson. Lets make sure we remember this one gents! One mistake = okay, two similar mistakes = stupid, three mistakes = criminal.

So yes, lets avoid tasting poison where we can. Learn from others. Yet we must learn too, but in uncharted territory, where others have not been. Mistakes show us where not to go. Think! Why did that happen? How could I do better?

Questioning is a crucial key to growth. Don't ruin your happiness by comparing yourself to others, only compare yourself to yourself! Today I must be better than I was yesterday. Tomorrow I must be better than I am today.

We all have imaginations, who says we can't turn the things we think of into tomorrow's reality? The preachers warn us about damnation. Did you ever stop to wonder if you are living a life of damnation? If you are not growing, you are actually damned. Just as a dam stops the flow of water, our attitude can stop the flow of growth.

Survival in a modern world demands change in us first.