Blog Post

Did you know that Thomas Edison nearly failed a thousand times to find the exact filament for the electric light bulb?  It is legendary that while in school his teachers told him “He was too stupid to learn anything.” Scottish nature photographer Alan McFadyen would have been happy with such a short quest for perfection.  However he wanted, and waited to get the perfect picture of a kingfisher bird diving into the water to catch a fish—the image he had in his mind was completely road mapped.  The species should be vertical, the point of its beak barely touching the water, capturing its prey.  And this is exactly what he captured—the bird mirrored in the glassy water’s surface.  Want to take a guess what was his progression to become picture perfect?  Prepare to be shocked.  He spent an inordinate 4,200 hours and 720,000 digital images.  Obviously all rest of the pictures he took weren’t failures.  There were degrees of perfection.  However there was only one that he counted as the one and only.  That was the one that gave him satisfaction. Not to mention the rewards and achievement that followed. Some more examples of failure?  Steven Spielberg was rejected by the University Of Southern California School Of Cinematic Arts multiple times before he went on to make ‘Jaws’.  RH Macy (the founder of Macy’s) believe it or not was initially known as the retailer who’d failed many a venture.  Sir Isaac Newton was a failed farmer (their family business) who is recognized as one of the world’s greatest scientists. 

How many times have we heard “Why are you such a failure?” “Why can’t you do it right the first time?” or “Look at cousin Bob or your brother Joe. Why can’t you be like them?” from our own parents.  How many of us have heard “Why don’t you follow Ben?  See how good he is at Math and Sports.” From our teachers.  Sometimes others can be our stumbling blocks, but for the most part we can be our own worst enemy. And if someone tells me that they failed—friend, or foe—I have always told them that it’s certainly not the end of the road, and if they understood where they made a mistake, they would never have to repeat it again.  Knowing your weaknesses, and your strengths is key to self-progression.   It’s unfortunate that we rarely get to see this in today’s day and age of clouded perfection. How many times have we seen celebrities, athletes, business leaders, presidents and prime ministers fail?  Numerous times, correct?  Now if only they had the honesty to admit that instead of trying to play hide-and-seek.  It’s not a big deal to have an Achilles’ heel—minimizing it and not letting it override your potentiality is important.

Recently a trainer showed me a video of a popular Black singer that went “It’s okay to not be okay.” As human beings we strive to be the very best, but every step you take may not be a leap, every leap you take may not be an example of foolproof dexterity, and every bridge that you thought you built with such competency might collapse.  The point that I’m trying to make is move on.  You are still alive, you are capable, and you can try to scale the Everest even if your companions aren’t sure of your skills.  What matters is this; how sure are you of your own potential? And how important it is to sometimes follow your head, and heart.  Heard the parable about Lot moving on in life after facing the debacles in the city?  He was told by God to not look back, and he didn’t.  He stoically faced the future and put his faith where his sight was—ahead.  Everyone else who did not follow that solid command, and that included his wife turned into immovable pillars of salt.  Himalayan or Rock, who knows?

In Profiles in Courage, John F. Kennedy writes about George W. Norris of Nebraska, who began his career as a country teacher on the plains of Nebraska. He became a small-town lawyer, then a local prosecuting attorney and judge. In 1903, he entered the U.S. House of Representatives and was later elected to the Senate. Norris was a Republican who took up unpopular causes and fought uphill battles. Near the end of his career, Norris told a friend, “It happens very often that one tries to do something and fails. He feels discouraged, and yet he may discover years afterward that the very effort he made was the reason why somebody else took it up and succeeded.

Civilization has actually progressed and its growth accomplished in the things that it failed to do, and humbly admitted its failures and shortcomings by going back to the drawing board.  That led to the metamorphosis of successful change.  Moral, don’t ever give up even though there’s nobody to cheer you on, except the voice within yourself.