Freedom to Fail
There is no thrill of victory without the agony of defeat, no reward without the risk and no success without failure. Protecting people from the latter only robs them of the former. In a society so entrenched with the idea of freedom we seem to have forgotten that it’s a two way street. Everyone is free to win, succeed, or be rewarded but somehow not to lose, fail, or assume risks. One cannot exist without the other. They thrive in their duality.
There is much value to gain from defeat, risk, and failure but we must allow the people around us, and ourselves to experience them. If you take all the risk away from an endeavor the reward shrinks and people are not motivated to pursue small rewards. Similarly, If you take away peoples freedom to fail their freedom to succeed will wither away with it. Nobody would celebrate a win on the ball field, or anywhere else in life, if the worst possible outcome is a tie. If you know you can’t loose why play hard in sports.? If you know you can’t fail when try hard in life?
“Success” and “failure” are subjective terms to be sure but that doesn’t stop them from establishing an objective reality. No matter how you define these terms there are real world consequences for denying the freedom to obtain them.
Though not as obvious as the cheering victors and the crying defeated we see these real world consequences everyday. They mostly take the form of unmotivated, lazy, and entitled people.
Supply a safety net under life’s trapeze to encourage people to swing higher and you’ll be amazed at how many people just take a nap in it. It turns out though if you take that safety net away most people will refuse to sleep on the hard floor. Instead they start to swing and many will go higher and higher once they’ve started, despite the absence of the net. Once you get going it’s easier and safer to keep swinging or swing higher than it is to look down.
Do yourself a favor and allow yourself to fail. Even if it hurts at first you’ll quickly realize “tis but a scratch” and will be better off in so many many ways because of it. If you have kids please put them in situations where they can succeed, of course, but don’t protect them for experiencing failure. Failure is a necessary ingredient for so many things we want to see in our children. Humbleness, hard work, sense of pride, and empathy all grow while dealing with failure. Read that again please. “Humbleness, hard work, sense of pride, and empathy”…seems like the key things that are lacking in today’s society. Let’s bring them back by not being afraid to fail.