Resilience - Rebounding From Failure

Resilience

Resilience is the best response to failure. Losing easily tempts you to believe it is safer not to try. If you do not reach for your goals, then you do not experience any disappointment or failure. Yet, as the late Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays, President of Morehouse College, said, “There is no shame in trying and failing. Shame is for those who do not even try in the first place.” Even more regrettable is unwillingness to try again after you fail. Practically speaking, determining to rebound from failure equals resilience, which eventually yields success. 

Some of our major historical heroes possessed tremendous resilient qualities. The unparalleled experiment of American democracy as institutionalized in the U.S. Constitution may have completely failed during the Civil War. But the resilience of Abraham Lincoln led to his presidency, inimitable leadership and eventual restoration of the union of states.  Malcolm X’s resolve to actualize his God given talents and natural endowments contributed greatly to the Black Power Movement and his teachings on the “decolonization of the Black mind.” The countless graduates of Tuskegee University in Alabama partially owe their education to the willpower of Booker T. Washington whose perseverance produced that fine institution. Despite being sandbagged at the 1964 and 1968 Democratic Party national conventions, the endurance of Fannie Lou Hamer and her cohorts yielded political progress for Blacks in Mississippi. In short, had these persons lacked resilience, they would have remained anonymous and would not have contributed significantly to human progress. 

Successfully rebounding from failure requires a few practical steps. First, straightforwardly embrace and live through your feelings of hurt and disappointment. One author declares, “Pain is the touchstone of all spiritual progress.” Admittedly, rejection and loss are difficult to accept, particularly when you offer your very best effort.  Still, those difficult feelings are critical to learning from failure.  Second, Norman Vincent Peale suggests resisting the temptation to panic and allow fear to paralyze you. FEAR (forget about everything and run) presides over the funeral of your dreams and goals. Eradicating fear and its negative mindset is a central step toward resilience. Third, prayer and meditation reveal better approaches and strategies. Divine inspiration teaches us how to “work smart and not hard” as we pursue our ambitions. Further, it empowers us with faith, hope, love and self-acceptance. Fourth, willingly ask a few difficult questions, “What can I learn from this experience?” “Did I really try my best and give my utmost?” “Did I deserve to fail given my efforts?” “How can I be more strategic and efficient?” In essence, a postmortem on failure provides insight that ultimately produces success, if we appropriately apply any lessons we glean. 

There is an additional and very important component to resilience. As you licks your wounds, accepts your disappointments and picks yourself up to fight anew, daily affirmations of positive and hopeful thoughts encourage and empower you toward victory. This practice of imagining one’s self triumphing over challenges and difficulties propels your success. As you affirm the positive, you eliminate negativity. I suggest you develop a mantra.  Each day, I affirm “I cannot fail because there is no failure in God.” Daily affirmation fuels resilience. 

Successful people find spiritual wherewithal to rebound from failure.  Trusting in the God and believing in themselves, they cultivate resilience and perseverance despite any adversarial circumstances or insurmountable odds. Practically speaking, they learn from their mistakes. Daily, they affirm their faith in God and act upon their belief in themselves. Simply stated, they understand resilience as the best response to failure.