Have you ever noticed how ants always look for a way around an obstacle? Put your finger in an ant’s path and it will try and go around it, or over it. It will keep looking for a way to move forward. It won’t just stand there and stare. It won’t give up.
Today I want to share with you all what I call “the ant mindset” and how noticing an ant helped change my perspective on failure. When I was first introduced to the idea of how failure was a good thing, it was quite alarming. How can not doing good in something equate to something good? When we think of the word failure, we kind of see this huge, dark cloud behind it. And I get it. We perceive failure as a negative. Throughout our entire lives, we have been told that “failure is not an option.” I have learned that failure is an option, but giving up is not! How can we know where we need to improve if we’ve never failed at something?
Every lesson learned, every failure, is a movement in the right direction. I say this because failure is such a huge part of living — it happens to us all. Take the example of Thomas Edison, whose most memorable invention was the light bulb, which purportedly took him 1,000 tries before he developed a successful prototype. “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” a reporter asked him. “I didn’t fail 1,000 times,” Edison responded. “The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”
So, is there a lesson to be learned from failure?
Let me tell you my personal experience with failure. The last couple of years, my friends and I have participated in the National History Day competition. The first time we participated, we placed third at the regional contest, which wasn’t high enough to make it to the state level. I remember after the results came out we were all so disappointed. We felt as if we had tried our best and that there was no way we could be better. Making it to the state level looked like an unachievable dream. We didn’t even want to participate in the competition the following year.
However, upon reflection, we realized that the way forward from here was to learn from our mistakes and improve. We used our disappointment from our failure and turned that into determination to do better the next year. We analyzed all the feedback from the judges and made some changes to our approach. We were now more motivated than ever to ace the regionals and make it to state. I was chosen to be the narrator. I had to memorize a lot of lines and there was no room for error, as my words as a narrator had the power to change our interpretation of history.
It was the morning of the competition, and I knew I had to deliver. I had to muster up all the courage and confidence and deliver those lines in front of an audience and judges. Looking at the piercing eyes of the judges, my heart started racing and I could feel the back of my neck sweating. But I thought back about last year’s competition and reminded myself that this is it. This was our chance to exhibit our persuasive abilities and unending capabilities.
I could feel a childlike enthusiasm crawl all over me, and I felt more determined than ever. Our team’s name was called: Word after word, scene after scene, the play went as smooth as we had envisioned. As we were driving back home from the competition, our history teacher informed us that we had won first place. We did it!
I remembered Henry Ford’s quote, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Now I realize that Ford was so right. I experienced every word in this quote come true. Our team went on to place first at state level, and we represented Tennessee at nationals. This single event facilitated a huge transformation in me. I learned to be like an ant. Never give up, look ahead, stay positive, and find ways to keep moving forward.
I have learned the importance of hard work and grit. My eyes opened to new possibilities when I started to look at failure with a new lens. I gained self-confidence, an open mind, and a resilient nature to look at every failure as an opportunity. Failures have an innate ability to teach us much bigger things in life. Everyone fails at one time or another — the courage part comes in continuing to try.
I hope you all will join me in celebrating your failures. I hope you will use failures to fuel your dreams! I hope you all will embrace the ant mindset.
Risha Manga is the co-founder of 901PLEDGE and a sophomore at Lausanne Collegiate School. 901PLEDGE was honored by Volunteer Memphis for “Non Profit Impact Memphis Volunteer Project” in 2020. Risha was the winner of the National Civil Rights Museum 2019 Keeper of the Dream Award for her work to help refugee children achieve academic success through literacy. She is SCYC District 4 Representative for 2020-2021. Risha turned her passion for crafting jewelry into compassion for others who are victims of inequality and was inducted into the 100 High School Students America Needs to Know About.™