Please stop glorifying failure!
These days, quite a few so called academicians, motivational speakers, and materially successful people directly or indirectly glorify failure. To my mind, it has a devastating effect on young minds.
“He failed in grade 5, left study and became a business tycoon”, “I never attended college, and now I run five educational institutes”, “I don’t mind if my children never get top scores in this or that”, “Do what your heart says”, “Remember those three idiots”, “Li Ka-shing, the richest man in Asia, had to quit school at 15”, “Steve Jobs this and Dhirubhai Ambani that”, and so on and so forth. All this is fine for a tiny TINY “tiny” (bold, capital, italic) group of students who really have massive talents, but are somehow not able to shine at school or college. However, for majority of students, such glorification of failure might be dangerous. Instead of motivating them to work harder, such glorification can make them find ways, read excuses, to justify their failure.
Learning to accept failure is fine, but that has to be after one has tried one’s best. That should be the message. Majority, yes majority, of successful people in any society such as bright scientists, technocrats and doctors have worked hard despite their dislike for certain areas of study. You can’t always do what you like. For a real success that leads to genuine happiness, one has to learn to Accept, Adapt and Act. No excuses. Period.
To sum up, if you are a student, work hard, put in your best, and be ready to accept any result. Celebrate your effort.–Dharmendra Sheth