Dear Oxford, we have defined 'failure' wrongly
Dear Oxford Dictionary,
I would like to thank you for being there with me before the era of smartphones dawned on us. I remember flipping through the crisp yellowish pages of my very own pocket dictionary moments before vocabulary tests in the efforts faint some preparation on my part. For all that you have done for me, I am truly grateful but I believe we may have made 1 vital mistake.
We may have defined the term ‘failure’ wrongly.
We defined failure as
- Lack of success
- A lack or deficiency of desirable quality
- The action or state of not functioning
Simply said, we defined failure as not attaining what we set out to do.
To put in perspective:
- When a child stumbles over when trying to walk: Failure
- When a boy gathers the nerves to ask his crush out and gets rejected: Failure
- When we work for a promotion but not achieve it: Failure
1.The real definition of failure:
But what if we defined failure as ‘not trying’. Did any of the above fail? Not at all. Failure is not the lack of success it is rather the lack of trying. Failure occurs when we do not persevere through. It occurs when we give up on the journey. Failure occurs when we choose not to rise when we fall.
“Our greatest glory is not in never failing but in rising every time we fall” - Confucious
2.Society and Failure:
Ironically, despite quotes like this, our society doesn’t reward failure. You won’t find many failures documented in our history books. It is said that history is written by the victors and I can’t help but feel that is true. We do not celebrate failure for the stepping stones they are. We are quic'k to dismiss them as painful lessons we need to avoid.
3.Posterboy for Perseverance:
The famous counter to this would be is Edison, whose most memorable invention was the light bulb. It took him 1,000 tries before he developed a successful prototype and when asked “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?”, he simply replied, “I have not failed. I've just found 1,000 ways that won't work.”
While Edison managed to find success through failure, many of us avoid the prospect of failure. In fact, we’re so focused on not failing that we rob ourselves the opportunity for success. What are we then left with? We make our peace with a life of mediocrity and conformity.
How can we hope to grow by simply staying in the shadows? Why do we deem failure as not an option? Why do we deem it as a deficiency? The sad fact is, we are wrong about what it means to be wrong.
4.Moving on:
Perhaps it is best to correct this misconception for our younger generation. When it comes to educating our young, it is perseverance and not diligence that should be one of the most crucial qualities to instill in the younger generation. We should teach them not to be afraid to fail. Like my father told me when I was young:
“It is alright to look like a fool for a second and learn then be a fool for the rest of your life.”
Overemphasizing on diligence and self-control only seems to undercut creativity, self-awareness anyway. Why willingly pave the way for bland conformity when perseverance sets one with the rigor and tenacity to press on in face of difficulty, fear, and doubt. Don’t we want that for the next generation?
In the end:
So dear Oxford dictionary, with this revised definition, when someone falters or does not achieve what he or she hopes for, I hope we will not say they have failed. We would simply say it's all right, try again. When we have a child who did not pass his or her exams, we would say it's alright, try again and if my attempt at sharing this message with you was poorly written and riddled with errors I would know I did not fail. I will simply try again...