Originally published by The San Francisco Chronicle on September 21, 2015
By Deepak Chopra, MD
In a society that places a high value on competition and winning, everyone wants to succeed. It becomes difficult to discuss failure, which somehow translates into personal weakness, lack, or vulnerability. I’d like to reframe the whole relationship between success and failure so that both become part of a single process: your personal evolution.
As you evolve and grow, certain conditions appear on the path, and as they do, some people feel a sense of failure while other people don’t. Yet in both cases, the same situation has occurred:
- An obstacle or resistance is blocking the way forward.
- A fear of inadequacy has undermined one’s confidence.
- An outcome expected to be positive turns negative instead.
- Support from people you counted on isn’t there anymore.
- A manageable task starts to become overwhelming and unmanageable.
- The work environment and/or key relationships become hostile.
Evolution never requires failure. Such situations are part of everyone’s life. What actually matters is your interpretation of what’s going on, and then your response based on this interpretation. Any situation, no matter how frustrating or challenging, can be interpreted as evolutionary. I don’t mean that you apply positive thinking to mask your fear and insecurity.