Elocution
Imagine a packed arena, the final buzzer sounds, and the crowd goes silent with disbelief.
The game is lost, the victory lap doesn't happen, the cameras turn off and in that deafening
quiet the hard truth whispers. The world celebrates victory and hides the defeat, but the
most profound education comes not from the trophy but from the brutal silence that
follows.
We all know Michael Jordan, the world-famous basketball player. He was cut off from his
high school varsity team for not being tall enough. It was a rejection that sent him home to
cry in his room.
Yet that devastating failure, that specific moment of rock bottom, fuelled the relentless
drive that propelled him to greatness. Success might have taught him he was good but
failure taught him he had to be better. Jordan put it himself best, I've missed more than
9000 shots in my career, I've lost almost 300 games, 26 times I've been trusted to take the
game-winning shot and missed.
I've failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed. Success can
breed complacency, but failure forces adaptation. It isn't just about getting back up, it's
about getting up smarter, stronger and more determined than before.
Personal failures teach us what it feels like to make a mistake and to want to disappear.
Well, this can lead us to expertise in Austrian psychology. Failure teaches us humbleness
while success builds arrogance.
Failure forges resilience and character. In a way, a smooth winning unbroken streak never
can. It teaches humility and empathy, reminding us what it feels like to struggle, making
people more compassionate towards others.
So don't just aspire to win, seek out the lessons in every misstep because when you stop
fearing the fall, you give yourself the freedom to rise higher than before. Thank you.
