Today I got a very good article from my Nigerian Spiritual Connections, thought should be shared with all: Hence....
My spiritual master used to say that it
is a material principle that failure is the pillar of success, but it can also
be applied to our spiritual lives. One very famous speaker has said, “Success is
going from failure to failure to failure, without losing one’s enthusiasm.” We
really never fail until we give up trying—trying with determination and
enthusiasm. Vision means to see the invisible, to feel the intangible and to
achieve the impossible.
Actually, challenges or failures can
either be stepping stones or stumbling blocks on the road to success. It is all
a matter of how we look at them. We can see a glass as half-empty, or we can see
the same glass as half-full. One way of seeing will bring us enthusiasm, while
the other way of seeing will bring us discouragement. We can apply that
principle to every aspect of our life. But it is always important to be sure
that we are doing the right thing.
We learn from our mistakes. A mistake is
only a mistake if we fail to learn from it. Real leaders make many, many
mistakes, but they do not repeat them. They learn from them, and they remain
enthusiastic and determined for the goal. In every situation actual champions
are always focused on their goals.
Failure builds character. Failure is
something that only comes to one who earns it. We should respect failure as an
honor. We cannot be successful unless we have the courage to fail. And every
failure contains the seed of success. When we learn from mistakes, when we learn
from failures, we become stronger, we develop greater
integrity.
Thomas Edison tried 8000 various
experiments before he finally invented the electric bulb. Later when he was
asked about it, he said that he wasn’t discouraged by all those 8000 failures.
“From every failure I at least learnt what doesn’t work.” That attitude is
success!
When difficulties, obstacles, pressures
and even failures come into our lives, we should always be seeing the invisible,
feeling the intangible, and in this way we can achieve the impossible. We may
not understand the exact cause behind the difficulty, but if we have faith, if
we have hope, we can always be looking at that “flower” that will grow from this
“rainstorm.” That attitude is the substance of a successful
man.
Opportunity knocks, but most people
complain about the noise. We should see an opportunity in every situation; we
never really lose until we stop trying. It is said that in the darkness a star
shines the brightest.
A third-class man does not even begin to
endeavor because he is fearful that he may fail. A second- class man endeavors,
but turns back when faced with obstacles and failures on his path. But the
first-class man keeps his mind fixed on the goal and does not turn
back.