Failure is Temporary, Giving Up is Permanence

“It’s not failing that is the problem; it is what one does after he has failed.” (Richard Halverson)

“The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed.” (Lloyd Jones)

Reading news about the death of late Steve Jobs [1955 – 2011] was a shocking moment for me. I don’t claim to know him personally, but I had had read and watched videos about him few months ago. This was the man who started a billion-dollar business in his parents’ garage (with his friend Steve Wozniak) in his early 20s. He becomes a multimillionaire by the age of 25 and his first appeared in Time magazine at 26. At one time, he lead the field in three separate industries; music – the iPod that had revolutionized the way music is delivered, movies – Pixar the famous animation studios, and computering – Apple, of course, sexy & stylish gadget (that I’m not even afford to buy).

But you should read his story in reverse; he was a failure before he gained all these. In short, his most well-known failure is that he was a dropped out of Reed College in Oregon.

Here is the man, one among many, who had inspired me to see failure is not fatal, but it is the law of life that everyone must to go through; failure is the practical essential for success. Failure, my friend, should be our teacher. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead-end street. Failure is temporary, giving up is permanence. So don’t give up!

Albert Einstein was 4 years old before he could speak and 7 before he could read. And Einstein also failed his university entrance exams on his first attempt. Isaac Newton did poorly in grade school. A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he had “no good ideas”. Haydn gave up on making a musician of Beethoven, who seemed a slow and plodding man with no apparent talent. Henry Ford forgot to put a reverse gear in his first car. Thomas Edison spent 2 million dollars on an invention which proved to be of little value.*

And what makes them what they were today? They rise up again and again and again. I heard a wise saying, “Falling down doesn’t make you a failure, but staying down does.” Don’t give up because you failed the first time (and also on the 2^nd or 3^rd or 4^th or 5^th or… time).

You have failed many times, although you may not remember. You fell down the first time you tried to walk. You almost drowned the first time you tried to swim, didn’t you? You were rejected the first time from the one you love. You have failed many times, don’t you remember? And look at you now – you survived! You went through it, and you’d made your failure past. You can do that again. But now, bring God into the big picture, welcome Him to be your source of faith. Isn’t He was the one who help you all this while? Have faith in Him. Failure, my friend need never be final when faith is present – that’s for sure!

[In memory of a person who once upon a time was called ‘failure’, Steve Jobs.]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

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*info from wikipedia.com