"You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-range failures."--Charles Noble

Failure is just as much a part of life as is success.  We all want to be successful, and none of us want to fail at anything.  But life just doesn't work that way.  We all experience both failures and successes throughout our lives.  The key to coping with failure is to always focus on the total picture, including past successes, and hoped for future successes, as well as short-term failures.

We must have long-range goals in life--goals we hope to accomplish within a year, during the next ten years, and even during our entire lifetime. Lifetime goals are especially important because, as long as we are living, we can always hope that these goals will yet be attained.  And such goals do not have to be grandiose in nature. Some people's lifetime goals are such things as to do as much good during their lifetime as possible, or to see their children become productive and happy adults. 

It is impossible to accomplish anything very substantial in life without experiencing many short-term failures along the way.  In the words of William Gladstone, "No man ever became great or good except through many and great mistakes." The only way to avoid short-range failures is to never try anything, and that does not make for much of a life.  We must take some risks in life if we expect to accomplish anything worthwhile, and that means experiencing some failures along with our successes. 

Not only should we focus on hoped for successes in the future, but we must also keep in mind our past successes.  We all have had successes whether we think so or not.  Just surviving under difficult circumstances is a success.  Having overcome obstacles that many people do not face is a major success. I especially like Booker T. Washington's definition of success.  According to Washington, "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed."

So we must always focus on the entire picture.  We must keep in mind past successes and hoped for future successes when we become frustrated by short-range failures.  There's always tomorrow.  We have the rest of our lives to accomplish the goals we set for ourselves.  We will accomplish many of our long-range goals, but we are certain to have some short-term failures all along the way. And perhaps experiencing some failure is good for us.  After all, how sweet would success be if we had never experienced failure?  Think about it.

Copyright 2014Allen Smith

TB-56—Posted 06/03/2014