When I arrived in New York City my first summer, I felt like Ali in his prime. I headed into the City with full force, believing I was ready and ambitious enough for whatever tough stuff that was going to be tossed my way. I was caught up in the speed of the flashing lights that danced on the sidewalk near Broadway. I was swept away by the hustle and bustle of Grand Central. I thought that I was ready to endure the city that never sleeps.
And then I fell flat on my face. In less than a few weeks of my arrival, I was fired from my media internship and I was out of work. I was scrambling to make sense of my personal career loss (or what seemed like one at the time). It was if I had figuratively tripped on my Manolos and face-planted in the middle of Time Square for the whole world to see. My face felt bloody with permanent bruises to remind me of my first career flub as a recent graduate. At the time I felt scared. But I’d soon come to realize that the moment was simply that – a moment.
What I recognized in the wake of what seemed like disaster was that I had been running so fast, so eager to reach success that I forgot to remove my shades and simply be. I forgot that on the path to my dreams it was important to live a little. It’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to not have an answer. It’s okay to fail.
It’s so easy to stay knocked down. To stay there on the ground right where no one can see you. It’s easy to get discouraged after you felt like you’ve failed, especially so publicly and at the suspense of the public’s opinion.
But I’m here to tell you one important thing that I hope you carry with you for the rest of your life: failure is not fatal. We must never be afraid to fall down. Don’t be afraid to get knocked down, to get the door closed in front of you, to be told “hell no”, “never chick”, “naw”. Because what truly matters is that you know how to dust yourself off and you get back up.
In fact, I believe it’s important for everyone to fail. We must get to know failure intimately. I don’t mean just see what failure is like from a distance or believe that you know what it means for other people to fail. You must sleep with failure – knock boots with it. Breathe it, smell it, taste it, hear it. Go ahead and hit rock bottom. Because once you know failure inside and out, you’ll have subconsciously trained your mind on how to overcome it. Each and every time. Because you will fail many times in life – it is the nature of our mortality.
Let’s face it. We’ve all done stupid things, fudged up or faced drastic situations more than once in our lives. But it is through failure that we grow and begin to recognize ultimate truths about ourselves that we may have never seen before those hardships. Often our hugest setbacks are setups for something greater — something more powerful and visionary than we could ever know. We must be willing to see the positive in the negative, to “turn our shit into sugar” as 50 Cent would say, and think of ways to rise above adversity or what we may believe are our worst challenges. God never gives us anything that we can’t handle, and what may appear to be a roadblock may actually end up becoming the most defining moment of your life.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Oprah Winfrey. Michael Jordan. Barack Obama. These are well-known individuals who had to overcome adversities, even their own personal failures to reach success. Some were fired. Some were told “no”. Some just plain didn’t perform as well as they thought they could. But if any of them had quit or allowed their pitfalls to define them, they would have never achieved the greatness that they have today.
Often, the universe needs us to go through the storm, get completely drenched and be tested before we can see the sun. It’s always darkest before dawn. There is always healing after the pain.
The bruises of failure may or may not be visible to the whole world, but why hide a scar? No matter how distorted the truth may get at times, be willing to own up to your mistakes. But more importantly, be willing to forgive yourself and move on. No one likes the girl on the team who whines about her losses. Rather we celebrate those that are valiant and continue to go for the gold even if they’ve fallen off the beam 100 times. It is those that are able to fashion a lesson from their mishaps that are valorous and often end up being the strongest contenders in life. Dare to be you. Own every part of yourself and who you are, both the good and the bad. And remember – you’ve had more success in life than failures. Let the good points override the tough ones.
No matter what happens to you in life, no matter how many times you fail, don’t be afraid to get up. You can always face-plant in the middle of the busiest sector in Manhattan. Many people are falling down just like you. But a real Bauce knows how to dust herself off, get back up, and keep on moving towards her goals and dreams. In fact, if it wasn’t for me getting fired from my internship, I would have never created BAUCE Magazine. Many people don’t even realize that even after falling flat on my face — I was still able to secure a media job in a newsroom three months later.
I didn’t give up – and neither should you.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Keep your head held high, stay strong, and never allow failures to be the death of you. If you do, you’ll never truly realize your true greatness and potential.
Featured Image via Michael Henein
