As college students of this generation, we constantly strive for perfection both inside and outside of the classroom – having perfect hair, make-up, and clothing, getting perfect grades, remaining perfectly in-shape, and having the ability to always seem perfectly composed. But what we don’t realize is just how important it is to be imperfect; it is truly an art to learn and appreciate how to fail. It is in our nature to worry about what others think and to want to be accepted. But life is not a battle of who is most perfect. Granted, sometimes it’s hard not to follow the crowd and weasel our way to the top. Speaking as someone who has lived her life as a perfectionist, it took me a long time to come to terms with the idea that I don’t always have to be perfect. There have been countless nights where I’ve slaved over papers and other work just to get by, and days where I’ve schmoozed a little too much with someone to get what I want. But by doing this, I didn’t have a greater understanding or appreciation for anything. I was just happy because I didn’t stand out as being wrong.
We can all agree that it’s extremely difficult to always seem on top of the world, in control, and catching every curveball that life chucks at you. In the post-graduation world, it’s impossible to get every position you apply for and to succeed in every task you are given. If you don’t get that role you wanted so badly and learned every song for, there are two roads you can take: you can be upset and angry, or you can use it to light a fire under you and push you to grow and work harder. If a relationship ends, you can sulk for days, or you can realize that it wasn’t right and that there is someone else out there for you. Every job you don’t land and interview that doesn’t go well can be viewed as continuous practice and preparation for next time.
Failure doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Our tendency is to associate it with a negative connotation, but if we change that connotation to one that is more constructive, we’ll see how it can help us in the long run. Not everyone is going to be good at everything; that’s life. Failing helps us to find our true passions. It gives us the ability to learn what our weaknesses are. How will we know if we’re doing our absolute best and living life to it’s fullest if we’ve never done our worst or lost something we desired?
There are those who say that without having your heart broken, you will never know true love. Well the same goes for failure. Without learning how to fail, you will never understand what it truly means to succeed, nor will you appreciate and relish in it when you’ve finally reached it.