Finding our full potential

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed his first song at the prime age of five years old, and started performing in public at the age of six. Pablo Picasso created his first oil painting at the age of nine, and his first of many well renowned paintings, “First Communion,” at the age of fifteen.

Not many of us can master a skill at such an early age while maintaining it throughout an entire lifetime. If that were the case, the accomplishments of Mozart and Picasso would be ordinary and trivial rather than legendary and remarkable.

Oftentimes, as peculiar as it may seem, we forget this fact. We believe that the only way to achieve greatness is to be great on the first attempt, to not make mistakes, and to not learn along the way, but learn instantly. The truth is, this expectation is not realistic in the slightest.

We learn our greatest lessons through the downfalls we experience through trial and error. Our lessons can include anything from morality to education, but somewhere in the midst of them, we simply need to screw up.

When a mistake occurs, however, discouragement is usually the first emotion to set in. We immediately start disparaging ourselves, and this negative thinking often leads to throwing in the towel and giving up on our ambition all together.

It is okay to accept a mistake, to accept disappointment in that mistake and to learn from it. What should never be okay, however, is to accept defeat because of that disappointment. Humans were not built to be perfect. The world we live in is made of mistakes, and all of our manufactured necessities to life evolved from trial and error. Anything from the microwave to X-Rays were once on a drawing table, and even happened by accident.

When trying to achieve something, no matter what that may be, the first step should be accepting a mistake, a malfunction or a mishap. The second step should be acquiring an understanding on how that mistake is just part of the learning process, a critical part in fact. The third step should be learning from that mistake and making improvements.

The world is filled with opportunities and it is those who are willing to put forth all of their effort that often find success through multiple failures. It is those who do not let discouragement determine whether or not they will quit, that prosper. It is those who understand that mistakes along the way do not equate to failure, that will achieve greatness throughout life.

When we succumb to discouragement and allow it to consume us, we are depriving the world of what could be the next revolutionary discovery or invention. We are also depriving ourselves of satisfaction and happiness. It is understandable that there are limits throughout life, and sometimes we must move on from a specific venture in order to discover something else. As long as all effort was put forth, however, this cannot be seen as failure. Failure is when we give up without fully trying, and that is no less than a tragedy.

Sometimes when in the midst of a mistake we envelope ourselves in discouragement and belittle our true potential. Understanding the positive implication of how much knowledge can be gained from an error is the key in grasping greatness.