Failure and Success

A few weeks ago, I failed a math test. A big red 62 at the top of the page. It was a simple test,  based on memorizing charts and graphs. But even though I studied I doubted myself and I panicked and got everything mixed up. I knew I hadn’t done well, but I had no idea how badly I had done. And when I realized I had failed it, my first F since the Canadian provinces quiz in 5^th grade, I was devastated and upset and cried for a long time. But then I got up, and resolved to do as well as I could on the next test. I worked hard. I paid attention in class, I did all my homework assignments and made sure I understood them. I aced the quizzes and took notes on anything I didn’t completely understand. I studied and worked through every problem and made a practice test for myself. All my work paid off-I aced the test and got a 100.

Sometimes, failure drives you to success. It’s a motivating factor. You want to do better the next time, to redeem yourself from the previous failure, to remind yourself that you are not someone who fails. You want to learn your lesson, and so you do. I would never have been driven enough to achieve a 100 if I had not failed the previous test.

I wonder, what if we worked that hard at everything? What if we studied that much, no matter what our grade already was? What if we truly gave everything our best effort, instead of sliding by on the bare minimum? How much better would we be?