My Life's Mistakes and Their Impact
My life's mistakes have molded me into the person I am today. Everybody has failed in some way at some time in their lives. Success is not something that comes easily; it must be worked for and often involves loss. I've always viewed failure as a necessary component of daily living and personal development. But what makes me who I am as a person is how I have handled my ups and downs. My aims and future have also been shaped by my ability to bounce back from failures. One failure in particular stuck out: IB Literature SL Year 1 in the 11th grade. I was very disappointed, and it affected my progress in other subjects. This led to poor performance in IB Physics and later I dropped it in 12th grade. Despite the failures I went through, I have learned to become resilient, and this has helped me a lot in managing college stress. Additionally, I have a GPA qualified for the dean's list. This paper reflects on my failures, how I have managed to bounce back from them, why some failure hurt more than others, how we manage to transform our failures into success and how we can become resilient.
How Do We Bounce Back From These Failures?
Recovering from a failure can be hard, but it is not impossible. Many people have gone through significant failures, and they have managed to bounce back and become very successful. Different people have employed various tactics on how to recover with failures based on the kinds of letdowns they are facing. According to McMurtrie (2013), accepting your failure is the first step to recovery (14). Disappointments can take many forms, for instance, willing failure or organization failure. It is upon the concerned individual to develop the right strategies for dealing with the situation. One of the best strategies is to develop a sixth sense, one that is capable of guiding us on the decisions we make to ensure that we do not fail. The sense will go a long way in helping us to bounce back from the failures and concentrate on positivity and moving forward. Nonetheless, no matter how much one fails, they will still keep going because quitting is not an option. For example, in my case, I failed in my 11th grade, and I became demotivated, but I got bounced back and increased my efforts. In my 12th grade, I had to take two English classes just to make things right. Fortunately, I performed well and managed to join the University of Portland, one of the best schools, and I am lucky to be one of the qualified GPA students.
Why Do Some Failures Sting More Than Others?
The failures that hinder us from attaining our goals either directly or indirectly tend to hurt than those other failures that do not cause a significant impact on our lives. One is likely to get much hurt when a certain event prevents them from accomplishing their dreams. For instance, failure in exam performance that hinder one from joining good school upsets more than a failure that prevents one from joining a music club. When I failed in my 11th-grade on IB Literature SL Year 1, I got hurt and I was very disappointed especially when I realized it affected my progress in other subjects. Lipson (2009), in her article on 'How to really have a successful failure' argues that, when the failure is immense, the looming is large such that it prevents one from seeing anything else (2). Her argument emphasizes the fact that the failures that cause a huge impact on our lives pains more than minor failures. However, this is common in all human beings because nobody wants to fail. The worst part about huge failures that hurt a lot is the heartsick feelings that keep haunting us. Self-blames are also common where one feels guilty of doing the act. What follows are regret feelings that can hurt a lot. Since it is not possible to undo the done mistakes or failures, it troubles a lot to remember how the event led to the current failures you have in life.
How Do We Attempt To Turn Our Failures Into Success?
Failures act as turning points in most of the people's lives because that is when they realize that they need to change how they do things. As a result, the failures become a source of motivation, and when we succeed, they become our reference points. Failures also act as teaching aids where we learn from our mistakes and do better in future. However, failures are unique as compared to success. We can attempt to use our failure experiences as a form of success by using them as a source motivation. After the first whooping failure, one feels the need of reexamining themselves to identify the next steps to take from there. For my case, my 11th-grade failure shaped up my personality today. They made me realize my strengths and weaknesses and every time someone asks me how I became who I am; I always give a reference to that event in my life in school. I love the person who I have become as a result of my past failures. When we accept our failures and take the right steps henceforth, we turn the disappointments into success stories to share with others in future and motivate them to keep going even when they are faced with biggest failures.
Can We Become More Resilient?
Despite all the failures, I know from experience that becoming more resilient is possible. However, gaining resilience can be a messy process and a complex one, but from experience it is achievable. "Lack of resilience can interfere with an individual's goals and mission" (McMurtrie 13). My high school failure in 11th grade further caused my disappointments, I lost motivation, and it discouraged my learning routine. I performed poorly in my classes, but eventually, I managed to become resilient. I achieved resilience by having a positive attachment to my failures in my subjects and putting more effort to perform better. Also, it is necessary to have an impulse control, self-sense and firm intellectual skills for one to become resilient and lead a normal life. The more failures one goes through, the more resilient they become; depending on how the disappointments are dealt. It is advisable to get back on feet as soon as possible when faced with a failure because it will assist you in the management and organization of your next steps to take. However, for some people, it can take a couple of years to recover from failure, but eventually, they do.
Conclusion
Failure in life is the most devastating experiences one can go through. Disappointments can be found in all aspects of life; sports, academics, relationships, career, and others. However, how we bounce back from the failures determines what kind of people we become. Accepting our failures and taking the right measures to deal with the situation is the proper medicine for bouncing back to normal life. Nonetheless, some failures can hurt more than others especially those that make us miss on opportunities and life goals. But there are ways of turning the failures into some success, for instance, using the failures as motivation to do more positive things and sharing with others to motivate them. Also, treating the failures as turning points in life creates resilience to the disappointments hence making us lead normal lives without regrets or heartsick feelings of self-blame.
Works Cited
Lipson, Abigail. How to have a Really Successful Failure. Harvard University, 2009. Print.
McMurtrie, Beth. "Bouncing Back may be Tough, but so are We." Chronicle of Higher Education, 2013. http://www.chronicle.com/article/Bouncing-Back-May-Be-Tough/138923/ Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.
