Embracing Failure As A Stepping Stone To Success

Failure is not the worst thing that can happen to a man, but giving up is. One Model who had truly defined failure as a stepping stone to success is Thomas Edison, a man who invented the electric bulb, he counted his numerous failures as knowledge of what doesn't work. This made me realize, failure is only failure if you see it as one, rather than knowledge of what wouldn't work. Everyone at one point in life had experienced the pain of failure, the joy of staying strong amidst such failure, and a motivating factor that had made one resistant in such moments. I'll be sharing one of my experiences with failure, and the tiny voice in me that keeps me going.

Image created using Gemini AI

I have had this desire to learn drums since I was young, but I mess up every opportunity I have to learn the drums each time it is presented to me. Sometimes I pay the tutor and after a few days I'm nowhere to be found. It's one of the things I regret not staying to do, especially when I travel to certain areas and realize they need a drummer. This makes me wonder what if I had those opportunities I missed before of a time like this. I wish I had stayed, I wish I had taken up my failure of handling the sticks and beating the drums improper as a step to what I envisioned, but no, it wasn't working as quickly as I wanted so I gave up, but each time I see a church or an organization not having a drummer, a feeling of regrets dawn on me, like I am the reason why they still couldn't have a drummer despite my present.

I have had failures I picked up from, failure in school, failing a subject in my final year, a subject I was good at, but then I tell myself "this failure doesn't define my true identity, time will heal me". Sometimes I look at the future I have envisioned or the family I come from and tell myself "I can't give up" because I may be the last one the family looks up to. Stories of people who failed several times like Edison, Mandela, etc. and never gave up serve as a motivation each time I feel like letting go.