Becoming friends with Failure

Everyone wants to be successful. No one wants to be a failure. However, success and failure are terms used to describe our response to a particular event in our life – not how we are in totality. 

Happiness is often subjective and difficult to measure. Success is relative, judged externally or by comparison to other people. Happiness is usually linked to an individual whereas success can be linked to an individual or a group. Success brings happiness. Failure does not bring happiness, unfortunately.

However, on the other hand, happiness fuels success, not the other way around. With happiness, we get more engaged, creative, energetic, motivated, resilient, and productive at work.

Success is about targeting something and achieving it individually or collectively and getting recognized in public for the same and celebrating the same. Success and happiness are inextricably linked. Most people feel strongly to be successful in life which will automatically make them happier.

On the other hand, despite the best of efforts, if the objective is not achieved, we term it as a failure. It is an affront to our ego and it is up to us as to whether we react or respond to our feeling of failure. On a positive note, we need to respond to failure and move forward.

Is failure a longer, but more fool-proof route to success? Yes, it is. Success does not last forever.

Embracing failure is a valuable growth and learning experience – not just as a means to achieve success – it is actually a way to discover more peace and happiness, which can lead to “success” – and certainly feels better than trying to ignore it at all costs

Failing in life helps to build resilience. The more we fail, the more stronger and resilient we become.  If we expect success on the first attempt or even the first few tries then we're sure to set ourselves up for a far more painful failure.

Failure breeds creativity, motivation, and tenacity. All of these lessons eventually build a level of confidence and self-esteem. Failure also teaches many important lessons about other people. Failure is a better teacher than success. 

The knowledge imbibed from our failures lasts longer than that from our successes. We should not ignore nor dismiss failure but need to treat failure as a learning opportunity.

All humans aspire for success which leads to a feeling of contentment, ego-satisfaction, and recognition. However, success is always short-lived and rarely comes on the 1st attempt. One has to negotiate many failures, respond to many challenges and come out a winner. Achieving success after many hardships is sweet and on a long-term basis. Embrace failure and discover yourself, discover success and happiness.