Man is weak in nature and has an innate tendency of not accepting failures and laying blame on others for his failures. It may differ in severity but is present in all of us. At a certain point of time, everyone realizes his/her mistake and the negligence which paved way for the respective failures. The plan is to realise it as soon as possible so that the cause is rectified earlier and further damage is prevented.

Success and failure both are the means to grow in life and achieve a higher understanding of the self. Success is the outcome of the efficient use of knowledge, hard work and experience. Failure on the other hand, boosts the above pre-requisites. Ignorance regarding the process often tends a person fall prey to irrelevant and untrue understanding about the failure. And the mistake is repeated many a times without analyzing the real cause of it. Without paying heed to the shortcomings and ill-preparations, a person tends to lay the blame on all others except him/her. A natural response to the failure is common to all persons irrespective of their religion, caste or gender. It is only after proper introspection that the breach is realised.

Self-introspection, apart from assisting in recognizing the cause of the grief and gloom, it also inculcates discipline in life structuring the whole journey and ultimately avoiding re-inventing the wheel. After failures, a person must be able to see the writing on the wall regarding what went wrong so that next time, he/she doesn’t land in dire straits again. Self-introspection does the needful. It rescues the person from the deep sea of rag-bags. Intrusive inspection of the events that preceded the Catch-22 situation helps one to get better of it in the similar future endeavours.

 A small ignorance which most of us see pale in comparison with its after-effects expedites the burns and bruises of the failure. Whatever is the reason, it is the analysis that will draft the causes of failure clearly and if the remedial measures are applied, there is a cent percent chance that insolvency will not kick the person in his gut again. Out of the ignorance and inexperience, a person while travelling his journey of life does also such things that the dice is loaded against his favours. Getting disheartened and discouraged is not the part of game but yes siphoning-off extra-ordinary courage and will-power to stand up and fight certainly becomes blessing in disguise. Monotonous games make one dull and bore but when it becomes tricky and full of adventures, the player also tries hard to pass the difficult stage with his skill and experiences. 

Many of us know the rugged roads and accident prone highway stretches across the world. A sane person would always try to avoid travelling those roads on account of the past history and logic, but that doesn’t deter drivers to abandon the road. They still travel and reach their destinations. Life is a journey of different and difficult terrains; each needs a different set of gear shifts and steering control. It is no surprise that the gear adopted for hilly terrain can’t give smooth drive on plain highway and vice-versa. When one is in valley or at summit, his/her eyes see a tough terrain to go through but his experience and skill tell a different story because he/she knows how the drive is to be calibrated.

On the same lines a person out of his innate weaknesses and dull skill-sets realizes the failure as a deep sea to cross through, but an experienced diver will get through with ease and comfort. For him/her, the tempest becomes the roaring engine and the skill/knowledge becomes the steering. Naïve person sees his failure as the end of world, dreams and expectations. His perception drives him crazy and aggravates the otherwise less harsh situations. The quagmire of brutal circumstances makes his/her life full of grief and gloom. It is indeed in our hands to cheer or choke ourselves. It is indeed in our control to be a warrior or worrier. It is the courage to face the trials and tribulations that make the difference. Rest the Almighty has promised that he will always be with his true believers to steer the way through the tempest.

 

(Author is an Associate member of ASCE- India International Section and can be reached at nadeem003@yahoo.com)