We will meet failure in our work and studies.What attitude shall we take toward it ? How to deal with it?B.Reading
How to Cope With Failure
Nothing bites us more hurtfully than failure.Especially in case of people with poor self-esteem and low self-confidence, the pain and fear associated with failure is more serious, damaging and debilitating.Failure prevents many unfortunate victims from being true to their potential and realizing their dreams.Concerned as we are with success and survival, living in a competitive world that worships winners and castigates losers, even people with normal self-esteem tend to react to failure with a negative attitude, and with feelings of inadequacy, incompetence and loss of self-esteem.So it is very important for everyone to have a right attitude toward failure.Here are some tips:
Know that you can deal with failure: For the ultimate triumph of success,failure can be dealt with in a positive and decisive way.Failure can be managed intelligently and pragmatically just as we can manage our day to day problems with aplomb as a part of our struggle for survival.Failure can be confronted,studied and dealt with, in a rational and objective manner, before it overwhelms us with its oppressive feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.The best way to deal with failure is to deal with it as if it is a problem that needs to be resolved in the path of our goal oriented action.
Accept failure as a process: Failure is not the end of our actions but a part or product of them.It is a phase within a phase, a problem within a problem,a nightmare within a dream that exists because it has a message to deliver and a lesson to teach.Just as pain and suffering are hidden in our lives, failure is inherent in all actions and undertakings.For us to enjoy the fruit of success, we need to suffer the roughness of failure.The best thing about failure is it is temporary, manageable and solvable.It is therefore better to accept failure as a process and cope with it adequately.
Anticipate failure: Before you start your goal oriented action, anticipate what kind of failures you may meet on the way and prepare yourself adequately to cope with them.Anticipating failures during different stages of our goal oriented actions and preparing ourselves adequately to deal with them through alternative plans and approaches so as to become wiser,efficient and effective is a sign of maturity and sagacity.This way we minimize our losses, conserve our resources, remain focused on our goals and stay on course.With this approach, failure becomes an integral part of our vision for success.
Develop an intelligent attitude: Though endowed with great many skills and vast intelligence, we cannot escape from the perils of failure when we embark upon a course of action with which we are not very familiar or comfortable.
Wisdom therefore demands an intelligent attitude and calculated approach towards the problem of failure.If we accept failure as an inherent vice in a learning situation,consider it as a sign of some imperfection that is in need of a state of perfection, we can use failure as an opportunity to measure our progress, polish our skills and deal with the problems of our lives effectively and efficiently.If we consider failure as a phase in the process of our improvement and development,we can use it for self-improvement and increased self-awareness.
Accept responsibility for your failure: Faced with failure, feeble minds tendto look outwardly to find the cause of their failure.Rather than accepting theresponsibility heroically and finding solutions, they indulge in acts of self-deception and blame some person, element or extraneous condition as the causeof their failure.In the face of failure, probably this is one of the worst attitudeany one can display to escape criticism.When you find yourself in the middle ofa desert, there is no point in blaming the sun or the sand or fate, but to acceptresponsibility and do everything possible under the sun to stay on course andsurvive.Even if the actual cause is extraneous, by accepting responsibility onecan learn wisely from the situation and prepare oneself for further action.
Especially when you are part of a team,by accepting responsibility for youractions, you are earning the trust and respect of other team members and theircontinued support to deal with your failure.By accepting responsibility for yourfailures, you are confronting failure truthfully and realistically without being defeated by it or oppressed by it.
Notes on language and culture
1.self-esteem: self-respect.
2.debilitating: making (a person) very weak.
3.castigate: scold, criticize (sb) severely.
4.inadequacy: not being good enough.
5.ultimate: final.
6.pragmatically: practically.
7.aplomb : confidence and self-control.
8.phase: stage.
9.inherent: existing as a natural feature or quality of sb or sth.
10.alternative: available.
11.sagacity: wisdom and good judgment.
12.integral: necessary for completeness.
13.endowed with: provided with.
14.peril: danger.
15.embark on sth: to start or engage in.
16.vice: weakness, evil.
17.feeble: weak.
18.indulge in : to allow oneself to enjoy the pleasure of sth.
19.extraneous: coming from outside.
C.Post-reading activity.
Think and answer the following questions:
1.What attitude do people usually take toward failure?2.How do you understand“For us to enjoy the fruit of success, we need to suffer the roughness of failure”?
3.What is an intelligent attitude toward failure according to the passage?4.Why is it important for one to accept responsibility for failure?Ⅳ.Fast Reading
In this part,you are required to read three passages and choose the best answers after each passage, using the skills you have just learned.
Failure And Success
While many Canadians achieve great things at an early age, countless others fail.Some fail magnificently; others do so in utter anonymity (无名).