Embracing Failure Proudly
It is a habit that most of us tend to embrace and celebrate all things which are successful yet we tend to have a rather negative attitude to our failures because we interpret them as personal disasters, something to be ashamed of and to hide.
However, this doesn’t have to be the case at all. We can choose to change our lenses and shift completely the way we read our failures so that we may gain a new positive outlook on those so-called negative experiences of life. The truth is that, there is no such thing as a negative occurrence; it is all positive. If we are aiming at our spiritual overall growth, all transforms into an enriching fertilizer; and all experiences and outcomes: good or bad, essentially become food for the soul, for our personal growth and ultimately our learning may benefit others as a result too.
Somehow, many of us we grow up with the idea that we must celebrate and be happy when things turn out our way. Our present society values and takes pride on things which are positive, we are busy posting our happy moments captured in images in Facebook, sending proof in the way of glamours photos of our happy wedding or our successful job promotion, sharing with others the results of those great unforgettable moments during a fantastic holiday or adventure, sharing the images of our cute children and their accomplishments, exhibiting our brand new home and showing off our accomplishments to the world in social media; and so on…
However, we somehow never take the same approach to our so-considered ‘failures’. We never post a picture in Facebook of our failing grade or sad face when we feel depressed or out of sorts. Actually, we tend to react quite the opposite, hiding those negative experiences, feeling ashamed and embarrassed of anything we didn’t succeed at; hiding the fact that we just were turned down on a new job opportunity, of not passing a test, of miscarrying, or of whatever experience might be which we don’t consider met our highest expectations.
I wonder why do we have such negative approach on failure? And why should it continue to be that way? Can we do something about it? The answer is a resounding YES! The wisdom of Yoga tells us that we can step in and change our attitude and begin to see all occurrences as wide open opportunities. Every single thing that happens to us is guiding us in the right direction, it is potentially opening the door to a new beginning. That experience we thought of negative could be the very opportunity to bring us out of our shell and reap the richest essence from within ourselves. It is like the shell of a seed, in order to grow to its optimal potential it needs to break and open up. We too, need to allow our shells to hurt when exposed to painful or difficult circumstances so that we may grow from them and get closer to our path. With this outlook on reality all events are opportunities and all bad or negative failures are truly successes to be proud of. All we need to do is to change the lenses; and when we do that, even the most difficult to swallow falls becomes a ladder to ascend, a rope to climb up to, a step up to the next level; potentially something to be proud of and happy about.
I encourage myself daily to put on these positive lenses which may allow me to read all events in my life as endless opportunities, so that I may embrace successes and failures alike; so that I may see them all as flowers blooming in front of my eyes. Let’s all make the promise to cherish each moment for what it is: an open door, an opportunity opening us to the next step waiting for us. Let’s not hide or be embarrassed of our failures but rather embrace them and let’s watch life with all its many sweet and sour flavors enrich our very lives!
No Comments