Whyaresomanypeoplesoafraidtofail?Quitesimplybecausenoonetellsushowtofailsothatfailure(失败)becomesanexperiencethatmeansgrowth.Weforgetthatfailureispartofthehumanconditionandthateverypersonhastherighttofail.
Mostparentsworkhardatpreventingfailureorprotectingtheirchildrenfromtheknowledgethattheyhavefailed.Onewayistolowerstandards(标准).Whenachildfinishesmakingatable,themotherdescribesitas“perfect”eventhoughitdoesn’tstandstill.Anotherwayistoblame(责怪)others.IfJohnfailsinscience,histeacherisunfairorstupid.
There’saproblemwiththetwoways.Itmakesachildunpreparedforlifeintherealworld.Theyoungneedtolearnthatnoonecanbebestateverything,noonecanwinallthetime,andthatit’spossibletoenjoyagameevenwhenyoudon’twin.Achildwho’snotinvitedtoabirthdayparty,whodoesn’tmakethehonourlistonthebaseballteam,feelsterrible,ofcourse.Butparentsshouldnotofferaquickconsolations(安慰),prizeorsay,“Itdoesn’tmatter.”Becauseitdoes.Theyoungshouldbeallowedtoexperiencefailureandbehelpedtocomeoutofit.
Failurenevergivespeoplepleasure.Ithurtsbothgrown-upsandchildren.Butitcanbereallygoodtoyourlifewhenyoulearntouseit.Youmustlearntoask“WhydidIfail?”Don’tblameanyoneelse.Askyourselfwhatyoudidwrongandhowyoucanimprove.Ifsomeoneelsecanhelp,don’tbeshyaboutaskingthem.
小题1:Howdomostparentspreventtheirchildrenfromfailure?