Peter’s new motivation

The time had come and the stage was set. Peter had to now demonstrate his skills with the flute that he had been practicing for more than three years. As the lights focused on him, Peter took a deep breath and started performing. 

He played a very melodious tune and got a lot of appreciation from the audience after his performance ended. Peter was very happy but he was now waiting for the results. But despite his beautiful performance, Peter was not rewarded with any prize in the competition. He was very disheartened because of it and was sitting on his chair with teary eyes. 

Another boy Jarred, who was a drummer and was the second prize winner of this competition, saw Peter sitting saddened. He went to him and asked, “Hey, why are you upset? You gave such a great performance.” Peter replied in a sad voice, “Still I didn’t win anything in the competition.” Jarred said, “So what? Winning and losing is just a part of the competition, the skill that we have is what matters in the end.” To this, Peter replied, “Yes, I think that I lack the skills to become a good flute payer. I have been practicing for three years and still, I have found no success.” Jarred sat beside Peter and said, “I am practicing playing drums for the last five years, and this is the first time that I have received a prize in any competition that I have participated in.”

“Initially, even I had the feeling of giving up when I was failing to prove my skill. But slowly, I acknowledged the fact that there will be people who are better than you. And this gave me the motivation to try and excel at my skill rather than giving up.” Jarred added. 

Peter looked at Jarred and started pondering about what he had said. He got the realization that instead of doubting his skill due to a failure that he had, he should instead try to enhance his skills if he wanted to excel further. From that day, no other failure could make Peter doubt his skills. And finally, the day when Peter won a big competition, it was a success that felt bigger than all of his failures. 

What we learned

It is rightly said that failure is the greatest teacher. Acknowledging our failures in the right sense is very important to understand where we lack and become better at what we do.