Abilities Derived from Failures
When the Tallest Trees Bear the Smallest Fruits
A bank officer, while accepting congratulations on getting a promotion which he should have gotten seven years ago, lamented that he was waiting for a cup of tea in the morning and got a cup of tea in the evening!
A man fixes a time point in his mind for this or that realization. At that moment, he eagerly awaited this realization. Then thirsts. When he gets the desired result, then he realizes how late it is! Thinking about this, he becomes sad even on the occasion of happiness. Then he realizes that some events happen only once. If it is received early, then nothing is lost and if it is received late, then nothing is wasted.
Many do not even get what they want till the end. It has also happened that some people get the glory after their death which they have been wishing for all their life.
The right approach is to be satisfied with what you want sooner or later, but the human mind is such that when something comes even a little later than expected, it accepts it with a feeling of resentment!
Every person likes to see a high mountain as a map of his life, but we have to remember that whoever reaches the top of the mountain has to return to the foothills. What happens after reaching the highest mountain? No one can touch the sky. No one can live on the mountain.
Some people descend the mountain with honor, some fall, some fall, but it is almost impossible to fly higher and higher.
It would have been better if the desired fruit was received earlier, while repenting in the mind, one should think about what difference it would have made if it was received earlier.
The person who regrets this feels that if he had received the fruit late today, at the time when he wanted it the most, then today he would have been entitled to an even bigger reward! There is no map of stairs because a person’s life goes straight and upward. Some events happen only once, even if it is late.
There is no such rule as if one is early, then the chances of promotion are higher and if it is late, then it becomes the last chance. One need not look upon a promotion or achievement as the ultimate certificate or proof of one’s ability.
The feeling that one desires is not received in due time is the root cause of the suffering that man feels. He believes that he has attained qualifications very quickly, and yet he did not get the position or status he wanted.
This means that his ability has been neglected! If you believe in your ability, you do not need to measure it by the scale of attaining a position. The truly blessed thing in man’s life is the desire for ability and well-being. It is a matter of joy to become more and more skilled. It is a matter of great joy to acquire such skills. It is a good thing to get a position or promotion, but it alone doesn’t need to mean significance.
It is not a great misfortune to have full ability but not to get a position commensurate with that ability. An even greater misfortune is that the ability falls short of the promotion.
Many of the ‘incompetence’ of the past lie at the root of man’s eligibility for whatever he finally gets. If Stalin of Russia had not lost his stature and joined the army, he would have achieved some small or big position in the army and would have been pushed into anonymous retirement!
A famous American storyteller, A. Henry, would not have written the story if he had not been sent to jail on false charges of falsifying accounts! A person’s failure, despite all his alleged abilities, should not be considered a failure.
All these failures bring an ability that helps in achieving new successes.
A Russian poet has rightly said that when a very tall tree of aspiration was watered and the branches of such a big tree became very small, the chest sank! On the other hand, the vines that could not climb up were scattered on the ground.
When this landowner saw the melons of the vine, his chest swelled with surprise! Get rid of the illusion that by growing tall trees you will get big and sweet fruits!
