I recently failed at a goal last semester that I had been working on for some time. This was passing a physical fitness test for the Sinclair Police Academy.
To just say I failed would be the understatement of the year. This is my dream, and for whatever reason, I didn’t get it done.
As usual the self pity and resentment started to rise that afternoon as I laid in bed rethinking the day’s events and how I could have possibly done better.
In the middle of this exercise in self deprecation the phone rang. The caller ID said mom and I instantly answered it because I knew she was calling about the results of my exam.
I answered the phone and like all mothers she instantly knew something was wrong. I told her how I performed horribly at the exercises and that I don’t think I will ever be able to fulfill my dream of being a law enforcement officer.
My mother took a moment and said “You failed… Good!”
I was taken aback by this comment for a moment and then retorted with a “What!?”
My mom continued and said “Life has never been truly easy for anyone, we all have our crosses and burdens to bear. But those who survive are the ones who get back up when knocked down. They’re the ones who learn from their failure and grow from it. Every failure has a lesson and it is up to you to learn what that lesson is. So my son the best thing you can do is to fail early, fail often and fail forward. Take this disappointment and let it compel you to complete your tasks and goals.”
She ended her words of wisdom with an “I love you” and hung up the phone. This gave me some time to reflect and think about what she had just said.
I then later found out that the speech she had given me was stolen largely from a famous celebrity whose moniker began with Fresh and ended with Prince.
But the words still hold true and I have taken the preparations and steps to meet my goal this semester and I encourage you to do the same.
The world is a hard place and we can’t just lay down whenever something doesn’t go the way we want it to! We have to be strong, we have to be unstoppable and we have to learn from our shortcomings.
So in the words of my mom and Will Smith: fail early, fail often, and fail forward. Good luck to us all!
Justin A. Baker
Staff Writer