7A: You have to fail to succeed

                Everyone has a different opinion of the word failure.  Some people think that it is a bad thing, but others look at it as a form of motivation, something to push you even harder the next time.  I am definitely the type of person to use failure as a learning experience.  Growing up my parents have always encouraged me to try my best, when I failed at something they didn't make it seem like I was disappointing them, they just wanted me to try harder the next time.  I think that the way they raised me really helped me later on in life.

               
                Even though I think that failure isn't a bad thing, I also don’t think that it is okay to just accept failure.  I still remember standing behind the starting line at one of my big track meets in high school.  The race was really important to me and I remember having butterflies in my stomach.  When the gun went off I didn't hesitate at all, I pushed all the way until I crossed the finish line.  I came in second place and was really proud of that.  I ran up to my coach to tell him I came in second place and I still remember his exact words to me “Second place is the first loser, don’t ever settle for second.”  When he said that to me my heart sank and all my excitement went away.  After looking back and thinking about what he said to me that day,  I now realize he wasn't trying to make me upset.  My coach just didn't want me to settle for second, he didn't want me to think that that was the best I could do.  He wanted me to fight even harder the next time.  His words that day definitely made me try even harder in the future.

               In today’s world kids always get upset when losing a game and end up crying if they are not the winner.  I don’t think that this is a good thing to teach children.  We need to let kids know that it is okay to fail sometimes and that you can’t always be a winner.  In the article The Fringe benefits of Failure, J.K. Rowling quotes “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default”  Everyone needs to realize that they will fail at some point in life to a certain extent. The key is to not dwell on that failure in a bad way; you should learn to use that mistake in a positive way.  Failure can be used to improve and try even harder the next time.