Confucius once said, "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
There's this Debate Competition that occurs anually in the University of Ibadan. It's claimed to be the biggest event in West Africa and it features a contest between all faculties in the institution. It's called 'Jaw War'. I am a Social Scientist, and last year we took the cup home! It was glorious to say the least. We were the champions of Public Speaking. Fast forward to this year's event, we had to scale through the first round and Quatre-finals atleast. (the whole school expected that, talk about pressure!)
Our speakers were ready, speeches perfected. We were gonna keep the cup afterall. Then the Faculty of Technology came to burn our hopes and turn them into meaningless ashes. We lost! The standing champions lost! And it was nothing short of disgraceful.
It hurt tons to lose. My friends represented the Faculty and I could see they were devastated by the outcome of the event. We didn't even get past the first stage! But this same people were part of those who won us the cup last year and I know they're awesome Public Speakers. It's hard to say what exactly went wrong.
But then I realised this happens to a good number of people too.
No one enjoys failure. In fact we've been taught to see it as an infectious killer disease, one to be feared and completely avoided. But as Paulo Coelho said "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.'
It hurts more, I believe, to have already gotten to the apex and then fall to rock bottom. More often than not, the courage to start again falters. As a human being, one naturally gets discouraged and uninterested.
But that same day, the spirit of my comrades in the Social Sciences, particularly our L&D society was one to be admired. We encouraged our speakers and got determined to make better preparations ahead of next year. And that is what matters folks! When you fall, don't lie down there worrying about the bruises on you, you get UP, dust your clothes, clean your cuts and make sure you don't fall again. It's all about learning from your past. "There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hardwork and learning from failure." As Colin Powell wisely posited.
You cannot keep living your life based on "had I done 'this' I could have won, had I not done 'that' I wouldn't have lost". You've lost this time! You need to deal with that knowledge. You need to accept your temporary loss and forge ahead if not it becomes permanent. Learn from the past. Things you could have done better, apply them to your next tryout. You only become a failure when you stop trying. "I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. but I cannot accept not trying." These are the words of Michael Jordan.
The road to success is laden with the inevitable pitfalls called failure. But what matters is you getting back up and moving forward, however slowly you can do that.
I know next year will be better for my Faculty. It's not pride. I just know we're gonna learn from our mistakes, put in more work, remain dedicated, and take back what's ours! I'd suggest you do that too, in whatever way it applies to you.
When the MIGHTY fall, they do not sit and lick their wounds. They get back up, going stronger against all odds.
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