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Failure Is Not An Easy Concept

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I think it is appropriate to begin by saying that failure is not an easy concept to define. I have been searching for something clever or original to say, but perhaps that is a silly endeavor. Instead, I have to begin with what I know from personal experience, which is that failure is pretty painful. It can be disheartening to fail at something, to be confronted with one’s own shortcomings, or to be subjected to the cruel circumstances of the universe. We’ve all had our share of disappointments, and failure is just that – a huge, giant disappointment resulting from unmet expectations. However, despite my despondent understanding of the term, I came across quotes from blogs and books that have helped me put things into perspective. After …show more content…

It was an image of a middle-aged man, sporting a brown fedora hat and horn-rimmed glasses with his quote underneath: “I never made it as a screenwriter. I tried to do what I loved and I failed. But the important thing is, I’ve found reasons to like every job I’ve done since then. had a friend who committed suicide recently. He opened up his wrists in a bathtub. You know what he said to me once? He said: ‘I’m jealous of you because you can find a reason to enjoy anything you choose to do,” (Humans of New York). This really speaks to me. Although I don’t know this man and can’t comment on his life in depth, I do like the notion that failure allowed him to venture into other fields and interests. He made the choice to consciously find reasons to enjoy every endeavor since his failed attempt at screenwriting, and that acceptance of failure gave him the opportunity to tread a path that works for him. It is interesting to me that, in a sense, the man’s failure to excel in the very thing that he loves permitted him to adopt a more positive and cognizant attitude towards life’s other possibilities. Sometimes, we are just not meant to succeed. As though it is part of some bigger plan that is beyond our control, we don’t always get what we want. As George B. Shaw once wrote, “There are

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