I always say to my children, as long as you try your best, there
is no such thing as failure. I believe this one hundred percent
and it is a philosophy I am trying to install into my kids.
When I worked in the insurance industry, I used to sit the
insurance examinations. I would always study hard and give it my
all, however there were only three options as results. These
were, distinction, pass or fail. I hate this word fail, in their
eyes I failed twice, but did I though? As already stated, I
could not have tried any harder, therefore how dare they call me
a failure.
This result of fail is also a very negative and some what cruel
mark. The question I would like answered, is did I fail by a
long way, only a couple of points or quite a few points? Seeing
the word fail tells me nothing. I personally think that
everybody should be given a mark, possibly with an A for the
best mark, going down to a G for the worst.
I was discussing this very subject with a colleague from work.
He actually agreed with the points I was making and told me
about an argument he had with one of his teachers when he was at
school. He had overheard this particular teacher, discussing his
sisters previous years examination results, with another
teacher. They were being very critical about her, basically
saying how badly she had done. My colleague knew how much effort
his sister had put in and told the teacher as much, stating that
in his eyes she had passed every one of those exams.
Whatever you do in life, as long as you try your best, your can
do no more.