We all want to win this game we call life, right?
We win the game by achieving success. To be successful, we must be the best. To be the best, we must accomplish things. When we accomplish these things, we must never experience failure, right?
Failure.
I used to be afraid of this seven-letter word. I would often use the word to define who I was.
It wasn’t until I acknowledged the beauty and opportunity within failure that my fear of it disappeared.
Failure is inevitable. It can be disappointing, discouraging and embarrassing. We want to be successful and flaunt idealized versions of our lives, while simultaneously hiding our unsuccessful moments from the world. We want our failures to remain invisible.
What we frequently overlook is that we learn more from our failures than we do from our wins.
Walt Disney is known for his success. He created “the Happiest Place on Earth” and timeless characters that captivated audiences of all ages. What we don’t associate with his legacy is that he dropped out of high school at 16 or that his theme park was turned down over 300 times by bankers and financers.
Instead of sulking in his failures, Disney persevered, and because of that his legacy continues to grow today.
Before fans of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter started calling her “Queen Bey,” a nickname given to her because she is the queen of entertainment, she failed several times.
Her rise to fame came from her girl group “Destiny’s Child,” which split up in 2006 due to legal turmoil and conflict between group members. Beyoncé continued to pursue a career in the music industry after the split and is currently the highest-earning Black musician in history.
Failure makes us uncomfortable, but we don’t grow in comfort.
Failure is simply redirection. It’s not your final destination. It presents you with two choices: give up or keep going. You decide which path to pursue.
Our failures allow us to see how much we have grown as people. They provided us with more insight into life than any victory ever has.
For me, selecting a college was, at the time, the most stressful decision of my life. I wanted to select a school that would provide me with the best experiences during the best years of my life.
I realized two years into my college education that I had made the wrong decision and I transferred to LSU.
Not only did I choose the wrong college, but I also chose the wrong major, twice.
These failures propelled my life down a path that I never would have planned for myself. In making the wrong college decision, I discovered things I wouldn’t have discovered at LSU. The different majors I chose taught me valuable information that wouldn’t have been taught to me elsewhere.
Failing isn’t a threat. It’s an asset for success. Successful people understand how to fail. They give themselves the freedom to fail.
Have the courage to do something that may end in failure. It’s better than not attempting it at all.
Many successful people have failed before you, and several will continue to fail after you. I hope that I continue to fail, and that you do too, because that means we are one step closer to success.
Lauren Madden is a 21-year-old mass communication major from Mandeville
We win the game by achieving success. To be successful, we must be the best. To be the best, we must accomplish things. When we accomplish these things, we must never experience failure, right?
Failure.
I used to be afraid of this seven-letter word. I would often use the word to define who I was.
It wasn’t until I acknowledged the beauty and opportunity within failure that my fear of it disappeared.
Failure is inevitable. It can be disappointing, discouraging and embarrassing. We want to be successful and flaunt idealized versions of our lives, while simultaneously hiding our unsuccessful moments from the world. We want our failures to remain invisible.
What we frequently overlook is that we learn more from our failures than we do from our wins.
Walt Disney is known for his success. He created “the Happiest Place on Earth” and timeless characters that captivated audiences of all ages. What we don’t associate with his legacy is that he dropped out of high school at 16 or that his theme park was turned down over 300 times by bankers and financers.
Instead of sulking in his failures, Disney persevered, and because of that his legacy continues to grow today.
Before fans of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter started calling her “Queen Bey,” a nickname given to her because she is the queen of entertainment, she failed several times.
Her rise to fame came from her girl group “Destiny’s Child,” which split up in 2006 due to legal turmoil and conflict between group members. Beyoncé continued to pursue a career in the music industry after the split and is currently the highest-earning Black musician in history.
Failure makes us uncomfortable, but we don’t grow in comfort.
Failure is simply redirection. It’s not your final destination. It presents you with two choices: give up or keep going. You decide which path to pursue.
Our failures allow us to see how much we have grown as people. They provided us with more insight into life than any victory ever has.
For me, selecting a college was, at the time, the most stressful decision of my life. I wanted to select a school that would provide me with the best experiences during the best years of my life.
I realized two years into my college education that I had made the wrong decision and I transferred to LSU.
Not only did I choose the wrong college, but I also chose the wrong major, twice.
These failures propelled my life down a path that I never would have planned for myself. In making the wrong college decision, I discovered things I wouldn’t have discovered at LSU. The different majors I chose taught me valuable information that wouldn’t have been taught to me elsewhere.
Failing isn’t a threat. It’s an asset for success. Successful people understand how to fail. They give themselves the freedom to fail.
Have the courage to do something that may end in failure. It’s better than not attempting it at all.
Many successful people have failed before you, and several will continue to fail after you. I hope that I continue to fail, and that you do too, because that means we are one step closer to success.
Lauren Madden is a 21-year-old mass communication major from Mandeville
