Chandrayaan 2 and the 3 gifts of Failure

Image courtesy - ISRO

The world as we know right now is built on success. We are programmed to embrace victories and ignore defeats. We are programmed to believe that the society only needs the winners and the losers can go back home.
But what actually happens to people who fail? And are the most successful people always successful? Have they never tasted defeat in their lives? It was a question that bothered me all of a sudden today. The reason was simple: Chandrayaan-2

Chandrayaan - 2

Chandrayaan 2, India’s second lunar exploration mission, was launched on 22^nd of July this year, amid a lot of expectations. On 20^th of August, it reached the Moon’s orbit and preparations began for landing on the moon. On 7^th September 2019, India and the rest of the World waited in anticipation as the Vikram lander and the Pragyan lunar rover descended towards the surface of the moon, heading towards the south polar region of the moon. Sadly, a mere 2.1 kilometre from the finish line, crisis struck the mission. Chandrayaan 2 strayed away from its projected course and communication was lost. Millions of hearts were broken in an instance.

While the world discussed the pros and cons of the mission, one word was omnipresent in conversations and trending over social media - failure. The failure of Chandrayaan 2, the failure of ISRO, the failure of India. Somewhere deep within, I found similarities of the situation with my own life. Like everyone else, I too have failed quite often in life. Which brings me to the most important aspect of failure - it is common.

Failure is common

On my way to work in the morning, I studied the people passing by and wondered if they were affected by the burdens of failure too. And then I realized that failure is more common than we might think. I watched people at work and I thought of people I had known all my life. I had never heard of a person who had never failed in life. 

Failure is an important aspect of our life, yet we struggle to accept its existence. We are worried of being unsuccessful, we are worried of making a mistake and herein lies the problem. Because failure and success are like two sides of the same coin and it is extremely necessary to fail. And if you look closely, every failure comes with 3 gifts which are priceless.

The 3 gifts of failure

Whenever you are out to complete a task, there are usually two outcomes - you either succeed or you fail. When you fail and after you have dealt with the initial emotions of being unsuccessful, you find realization. You realize that you were wrong somewhere on the way. This is experience, the first gift of failure. Experience contributes to your understanding of the world and bestows you with knowledge.

Once you gain experience, you become stronger, because you have faced failure and survived. The road was tough, you were out of luck. You acknowledge it and accept it. This is the second gift of failure - maturity. Remember all the times that you failed in life as a little boy, the first attempt at climbing a tree, the first wrong answer, the first time you fell off your bike. You might not have known it then, but it helped you grow. Your first failure, inadvertently, helped build your character.

Once you gain experience and maturity, you are ready for the third and most special gift of failure - relentlessness. Defeat sows the first seeds of success within your character, by teaching you to be resilient. Failure has the ability to ignite your hunger for success and once you embrace failure, you are bound to be successful.

The 3 gifts of failure can be priceless in your pursuit of success, however, nothing is more important than picking yourself up after you fall.

Picking yourself up the first step back

When you fail, a plethora of emotions rage through your mind. Embarrassment and wrath are perhaps the strongest of them all, especially in today's society, where every life is closely monitored over the social media. The human mind is an extraordinary thing and in order to thrive, it needs inspiration. Defeat has the ability to nullify inspiration from one's life and this is why it is important to address the emotional aspects of the situation.

The first way back from failure is picking yourself up and convincing yourself that it is okay to fail. Remember, you failed because you dared try and that courage must be appreciated. Accept your flaws and work on them. You are allowed to fail, but you are not allowed to give up.

Chandrayaan 2 is an inspiration

People can debate whether Chandrayaan 2 is a success or a failure. For me, Chandrayaan 2 is an inspiration. Because people of flesh and blood - like you and me - had the desire to dream. Because hard working citizen of India aspired to cover a distance of 3,84,000 kilometers from the Earth to the Moon. The first step towards success is having the courage to dream and even before its epic journey, Chandrayaan 2 had shown us how important it was to dream big.

In your lives too, you shall experience narrow defeats where you are left ruing your luck. It is up to you then, to gather yourself together and keep trying. This is where Chandrayaan 2 should be an example for us all to look up to. Will ISRO give up because Chandrayaan 2 could not cover the final 2 kilometers? No. Neither should you.