Failure: Michael Jordan, J. K. Rowling

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm” –Winston S. Churchill. Failure is inevitable, one is bound to meet this dreaded ‘F’ word eventually. Failure is defined as having a lack of accomplishment. Everyone has or will experience failure, what you take from it will determine your success. Influential people such as Michael Jordan, J.K. Rowling, and Thomas Edison all experienced failure in their lives. J.K. Rowling, author of the famous Harry Potter series described herself as the “biggest failure she knew”, Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team and expertly stated, “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take
And that is why I succeeded.” He took his failures and instead of trying to avoid them he looked at his successes to motivate him to further success. Thomas Edison was the master of “trial and error”, creating the lightbulb had to result in at least one failure. He claims, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that work.” There are always different ways to solve a problem, however finding one that results in success is difficult and takes time. Spares wins games. Spares were the key to my success in my high school bowling career. Even though I missed spares I practiced until I perfected my 10-pin shot. Even though I missed spares I am a varsity bowler for my team. Even though I have spares I stay motivated and encourage success amongst my teammates. And even though I still miss spares, failure is not engraved in the back of my head, I learned from the world’s best athletes, authors, and inventors and know that everyone must experience failure to achieve
In my life there has been one failure that has affected me in every way possible. My parents unfortunately had a failed marriage, however that event has created the person I am today. I am not the typical product child of divorce. I took this situation and used it to my advantage. Since I was three years old my Mom took on the responsibility of raising my brother and me by herself. This has taught me the importance of independence. Independence means to not depend on another’s authority. There is nothing wrong with becoming a leader and taking action. Becoming a leader in any situation comes easy to me, I am not afraid to communicate with others, direct people in the right direction or even ask for help. With independence and leadership comes public speaking, which is a strong passion of mine, taking any opportunity to speak out when possible. After my parents separated we moved in with my Uncle and Grandmother, both of them became very influential people in my life. They encouraged me to be creative, a problem solver, and to take risks and to learn from them to benefit me in the future. Although, one does not have to go through divorce to be independent, independence may come easier to others but it can be achieved by anyone it is just up to the person how serious they are about reaching