Courage To Dare, Freedom To Fail

By Billi Lim August 2000

Recently in our continuing research into the subject of "Failure", we came upon this very interesting statement: "Courage to Dare, Freedom to Fail". It was made by John F. Kennedy in his first inaugural address as President of the United States of America.

The statements have further put my concept of "Dare to Fail" into a different level. It's true, in order just to 'Dare' we need to have courage. Many a time we may have asked ourselves

"If only I have the courage to ask……."
"If only I have the courage to do it……"
"If only I have the courage to speak out…."
"If only I have the courage to go for it…"

But alas, it's always "If only….". All the things which we want would have come true, if only we have the courage!


There are proverbs that state:-

"An army of sheep could not stand in front if a single lion"

"Faint heart never won fair lady"


And where does courage come from, one may wonder? Courage does not depend on the size of a person or the colour of the skin. The word 'courage' came from an ancient word 'cuer' which means heart. How very true! Courage actually stems from our heart. Sometimes the 'heart' is referred as the 'mind' or '' " in Chinese. Hence we must feel strong (the heart feels) and be mentally strong (the mind thinks) in order to have courage.

It is something which is within us. It has nothing to do with qualification or how much money we have. But one thing is for sure - if you have courage, wealth will follow!

For me, because I know that as a human being I have already been endowed with all the greatest qualities that nature can give (Human being is the epitorne if nature's creation), I feel strong.

And I have been endowed with the greatest miracle of nature's creation - the Brain.
I can think I therefore am mentally strong.

All I need is Action. Each time I plunged into action, I notice that doubt starts to disappear. And if I were to hesitate - suddenly 'fear' raises its ugly head. Hence action is the answer to develop courage as what NIKE says "Just do it". If you don't believe me, just try it!

Next we come to the "freedom to fail". Unless one is allowed to fail or fall, no mountains will be climbed, no planes will be invented; no new land will be discovered. "Failure" is the ultimate test of man's limits. Until you reach the point when you can't do it, only then would you know your limit. If you only do things which you can you will never know your limits and therefore would not know your full potential. Most people measure themselves by what they think they can do and by what others think of them. But to truly know yourself is to do it yourself - stressing yourself to the limits … till you meet failure, that's when you can truly know the extent of your capability. Interestingly in every subsequent attempt you will notice that the limits are being pushed further. So understand that nature gives us the freedom to fail in order to measure our own potential. So do not fear. You may fail in the first attempt but it need not necessarily be so in the second attempt.

Watch out for the Sydney 2000 Olympics and see all these Olympians go all out to meet failure!
A lot will fail to get their gold but nevertheless they are all winners!


Your fellow adventurer in time.

Billi

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