Asenseoffailureiswhatgenerallymakespeoplenervous, depressed, hopeless and sad. When onemakes a mistake, therearetwopossible kindsofresponses. One is tobecomeregretful.When hedevelopsthis, hewillbecomedisheartened,finally developstress and become victimof thatstress. Thus, hemaylosecourage and be unable to do anything.Thisisnegativeaspectofmakingamistake.
There is alsoa positive aspect of making mistake. That is, itencouragesyou toengage in introspection and self-reassessment.Whenyoudothis, yourmistakewillturninto a mistake-plus.A mistake-plusisboundtoactivateyourmind.Itthusenablesyoutore-planyourlife.Whenyou refusetograspthe former response, thereisalwaysthe other intheoffing. Availingofitwillpreventyoufromsuccumbingtofrustrationand enableyou to re-planyourlife.
Failuredoesnotmeandefeat.Failureisin fact a pillarofsuccess.No failurecan stopyouinyourquestforsuccess,providedyoumaintainyour positivity.Accordingtothelawofnature, thereisalwaysapositiveaspectofeverynegativeexperience,theonlyconditionisthatoneshouldnotbecomenegativeorsuccumbtodespair.
Brendon Burchard tells us that when we feel defeated, we must not struggle against it, rather we must accept the outcome. It is ok to feel disappointed but we must try to move past that and shift into the learning mode.Prophet Muhammad ﷺwas a man who went through many difficult times. Human kind has no better role model thanProphet Muhammad ﷺ.
When faced with difficult times he almost certainly pondered over what God expected from him. Allah tells inthe Holy Qur’ān that we will be faced with failures and difficulties. Prophet Muhammadﷺ reminds us that although we might befaced with setbacks and dire circumstances,everything that happens to a Muslim is good for him or her.
ProphetMuhammad ﷺ said:Do not focus on things that went wrong and spoiled your plans, move forward,with joy in your heart and thankfulness for the new beginnings Allah has ordained for you.
Seven ways mentally strong people can bouncebackfrom failure: 1)Theypractise acceptanceofthingstheycannotchange. 2)Theyreframethesituation. 3) They leveragetheirsetbackforfuturegrowth. 4)Theyarehonestwith theirfeelingsandacknowledgedisappointment. 5)Theyareoptimistic. 6)They maymakemeaningoftheirexperiencesandsetback. 7)Theyareself-compassionate.
Sri Krishna inBhagavad Gitasaid,“One shouldbebraveto accept failure.”The HolyQur’ān says,“Allah does not want to lay any hardship upon you; rather He wants to purify you and complete His favours upon you so that you may give thanks. (5:6)” Inthe Bible, it ismentioned,“Goduses our failuresto reveal our sinandchangeourfuture. Yourfailurewillspuryou on towork in a moreeffectivewayandtoattainaresounding Success.” Thus,initialfailurecan oftenbe a blessingindisguise.
[Nazeer Ahmed Kazi is a Lecturer Secab, Vijaypur, Karnataka]