The Art of Failing

Have you ever worked so hard for something and wanted it so bad only to find out you didn’t get it? Dear blog, I hope you’re ready to get down to some real talk today because I’m about to bring it.

Here’s the story: I really wanted this position for an international job. I put my heart and soul into the application. A month later I found out that from hundreds of applications mine made it to the top 25 that were to move on. I went through interviews only to wait another couple of months to hear back. Like any normal individual I had spent the past few months day-dreaming about the job, telling friends about the potential opportunity at hand and praying to the man upstairs to give me the position that I really wanted. I literally put my life at a standstill while I anticipated good news.  The day came in which I finally heard back and I was told that I did not receive the position. All I could think was “this sucks.” I called my mom within minutes of finding out and she reassured me that something bigger and better was on its way. Typical mom talk but it provided the comfort that I needed.

It took me a couple days to wrap my head around the events and pick myself back up. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had failed at obtaining something that I really wanted. It might be the over-achiever in me but I hate failing. I’m well aware that no one likes failure and that it happens all too often. This brings me to the reason I wanted to share these thoughts on my blog because it does happen to all of us. That moment we put ourselves out there only to have the door close. We’ve all had that moment where we’ve felt defeated and didn’t know what to do next. The problem is, we don’t talk about these failures. Failures happen all the time and we seem to be a little tough on them. After all, they are the moments that make us real and when we learn the most. I want to be more open with the people around me when things don’t go my way. I want all of us to look at failure as a learning experience and embrace it for what it is, a natural part of life.

Like most people, I was embarrassed to tell my friends and family that I didn’t get the position after months of anticipation. I calmly tucked it under the rug and pretended like it didn’t happen. It wasn’t until a few weeks later that I gave myself a little shake and realized I had to get my act together. After a little bit of time I became okay with not getting the position. Maybe it just wasn’t for me or maybe someone deserved it more. Either way, I was okay and ready to move on. But the question still stood, what was I going to do next? Well that was the moment where I picked myself back up and more determined than ever, decided I needed to hustle hard for my next move. Perseverance is key. When life gets you down, get back up but when you get back up, get up with more vengeance than before. Mom was right; something bigger and better was just around the corner waiting for me. I just had to jump through a few hoops to get to it but damn, I’m sure glad I did. Just wait until you hear what’s next.

I’ll leave you with this little bit of wisdom that I learnt recently. Every time something doesn’t go the way you want it to, just remember:

The failures aren’t what define you. It’s what you do next that defines the type of person you are.