Celebrating Failure

The past four to six months I had failed myself in a huge way. I failed myself in not thinking I had something in me when I clearly did. I simply did not have the self confidence to think I could succeed in doing that task or goal. For the past six months I have been studying to obtain my real estate sales associate license. I completed the the sixty three hour prerequisite course in a timely manner but procrastinated for a while in actually taking the exam. I always found myself questioning myself and feeling unsure of of my knowledge of the material. One of my best friends was studying to take it as well and we always discussed the topic. He signed up to take it first and failed it badly. He failed five more times until finally passing so this naturally intimidated me from taking the exam. Back to studying I went as I thought I needed to complete way more practice problems before attempting. I studied for about two more weeks aggressively then had a conversation with my little brother one day. He said, " bro, I think you're comparing yourself to Fern too much, you've been doing this stuff way more than him and know way more about it." When he told me this, I woke up. I signed it up for the exam at 8:00 a.m. the day of the game against Alabama Birmingham last Saturday. Upon finishing the exam, I felt very good about it. When I was done, the proctor handed me the sheet of paper that began, " congratulations ......" I was shocked I even asked the guy," I passed?" He said, "Yes, congrats!" One of those moments you feel so much pride because you know how hard you worked. We've all gotten those feelings when we study hard for a test and do well or work hard to accomplish any goal and do it.
I learned to always believe in yourself over others and only you are capable of knowing what you can accomplish. All it takes is hard work and patience. Waiting for the correct opportunity to capitalize on any task or goal is crucial to succeeding. With enough hard work and grinding, you can truly get anything but it won't happen over night. Failure is indeed hard. I felt so terrible about myself after the fact that I wasted that much time contemplating my skills. I always had that in me but never had the faith. Failure flattens your sails and deters you from reaching your goals. I failed myself during this process but then in the end became victorious. I handle failure emotionally I would say. I just get down on myself and don't even want to be involved in the topic of concern. I learned that failure is relative. Failure is about perspective. If you look at failure as a growth opportunity or step in the right direction, it doesn't spurs your progress. I am now open to taking risks because after that risk is taken, I am one step closer to success. We only have so much time on this earth and all moments of "failure" must be utilized for positive progression.