The Philosophy of "Failing Oneself"

    This is very much an inspired piece. The source is a speech during the Good Friday service. It was about how Jesus “failed himself” by allowing the perpetrators to crucify him. The resurrection is a symbolic eventual success, which is reiterated by the fact that even time is split “before him” and “after him”.

    The world too has worked very much in this philosophy. Mahatma Gandhi was a failure in the eyes of leaders who fought wars to reign supreme.  Martin Luther King is a failure in the eyes of people who fight with all fury to get their rights. Nelson Mandela never used an army to fight against the injustice. They all “failed” themselves in the eyes of the "fighting standards", but they all lasted with the highest number of followers. The eventual success they all achieved has placed them in the eternal memory of humanity. 

    Coming to each one of us, just think about the roles parents played/play/will play in our lives. If they had pursued their own selfish ambitions, how would have we been? One can’t even contemplate such a situation. They fail themselves and taste eventual success, which for them becomes bigger than what they would have achieved, through their children. This success tastes sweeter. Here, a special mention should be given to mothers, who hold the family together almost in all cases and letting no one know about her difficulties while doing one of the most hard and unpaid work inside homes. Then there are teachers who have allowed their disciples to grow above them are next to God.

    So, in this age, are we ready to fail ourselves?  The answer is a big NO. We are not ready to fail ourselves. We are forced to run this rat race which is guided by numbers quantifying the money you earn, the grades you obtain and the time you save, all of which are not known for whose satisfaction. We hate people who are against us. We don’t take back any of our steps forward. We want to resolve everything through fights and wars. We want no blame to be fallen on us. To sum it up, “we fail to fail ourselves”.

    The world would have been a better place if we had learned to slow down a bit, by lending a helping hand or make way for weak at times. But for that we have to fail ourselves and the question is pretty simple. Is it possible for me to fail myself?