How do you cope with failure?

Ralf · Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:45 am *How do you cope with failure?*

When I was 17, I failed my (theoretical) driving test. Being in my final year at college back then, this mishap posed a major setback to me, and I was down in the dumps for two week untill I was allowed to take it again. Fortunately I passed.

This has not been the last failure in my life, but I've somhow learnt to get on with those situations. How do you cope with failures/setbacks?
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stew.t. · Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:52 am *How do you cope with failure?*

If we did not fail or make mistakes, would we ever learn?

I failed one exam in my first year at University, my heart was not in that particular area of Philosophy.
What did I learn from it? That I needed to choose what I studied more carefully. Was I down, nope.

If you can not bounce back from these things then you will never move on.

A set back may put you in a place that you can move better from.

Yes it is true that it is hard to stay positive, but as I said the learning process requires these little mistakes.

And an exam or test does not in my opinion have anything to do with self worth. It just means you can apply yourself to a criteria set by someone else.

You can only endeavor to do your best.
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edison_chen_e_c · Sat Aug 25, 2007 9:17 am *How do you cope with failure?*

I will cry. (kidding)
I will go to find out the point which gets me fail, then "little by little" overcome the setback, as "being better is not an act, it's a travel."

stew.t. · Sat Aug 25, 2007 22:47 pm *How do you cope with failure?*

Hi edison

The travel you mention is quite a nice phrasing. As a road can be hard ti travel along or easy going.

You have to take the rough with the smooth.
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NinaZara · Sun Aug 26, 2007 15:45 pm *How do you cope with failure?*

Personally, I don't think I can cope with failure the right way. I will always feel miserable no matter how much I try to be positive about it.

But I always tell myself that I will only be miserable for one day. The next day, I still feel miserable but my attitude will make all the difference.

I will focus on good things in my life and in order to do this, I force myself. Remember, the trick is to be miserable only for one day. If I don't follow this, I will be miserable for a long time.

As for the pain, it will go, eventually. As they always say, time heals everything.
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edison_chen_e_c · Mon Aug 27, 2007 9:00 am *How do you cope with failure?*

liulo_1088 · Mon Aug 27, 2007 19:43 pm *How do you cope with failure?*

Copy with failure, it 's easy to talk but it's not easy to overcome. Wink

stew.t. · Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:54 am *How do you cope with failure?*

Hi Edison

Could you elaborate on the notion of theft and the traveling process, in relation to failure? I am quite intrigued by your response.

As for German being hard, it was a struggle to begin with, and many obstacles to overcome.
But to get to a level where you get by is not so difficult.

If we return to the notion of failure though, in relation to learning German, I really did feel I had failed to learn anything when after a year I moved from Thuringia to Saxony.
However I had made the mistake of ignoring the fact that listening is a big part of learning.

It took me a few months before I could understand the accent in Saxony. It is sometimes very hard to comprehend, likewise even now I have occasional problems with very strong Saxon accents.

I think this notion of failure needs to be balanced with realizing that sometimes, as above, it just requires time as well as dedication.

cheers stew.t.
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m1mohammad · Tue Aug 28, 2007 16:37 pm *How do you cope with failure?*

Hello Ralf,

When some major devastating failure strikes me, I have to deal with the experience.
I look at them as occasions that provide an opportunity for improvement and analysis. I believe they can really work for my future success.

You know I also accept responsibility for my failure. I believe that if I accept that nobody else need to be blamed for my failure, I can actually strive better in future and even taste success because of my effort.

BEST OF LUCK,
Mohammad

Yankee · Tue Aug 28, 2007 16:58 pm *How do you cope with failure?*

Torsten · Wed Aug 29, 2007 19:52 pm *How do you cope with failure?*

Hi Amy,

Many thanks for posting that newspaper article about German grammar. Could you please tell me if it's true that Americans have "continuous forms"? I thought in American English they are called "progressive forms" and "continuous" is a British term?

Regards,
Torsten
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Yankee · Thu Aug 30, 2007 4:27 am *How do you cope with failure?*

Hi Torsten

I don't really know whether one is "more British" or "more American" than the other. I use both terms myself, but tend to use "continuous" more often.
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