Shugyo

I'm proud to say...I failed today!

"The reality is that success, while useful in the present to determine where you are, can never be as helpful to driving future growth as failure.  All the satisfaction that comes from success is always temporary.  Whereas all the growth that comes from failure is enduring.  Take two people.  One is strong and the other is weak.  You ask them both to do five pullups.  The strong one does five pullups.  He is a success and he feels like a success.  He smiles. 

The other makes his attempt and try as he might, manages to do three pullups.  He is sweating and red-faced.  He is panting and doubled-over.  His muscles ache and he didn’t accomplish the task.  He is a failure and he feels like a failure.  He frowns, and the feeling of failure weighs on him. But one of these two people will wake up stronger tomorrow and the other will not. 

If someone gives you a test, and you pass the test, did it really test you?  A true test should reveal your limits, not reinforce your ego.  What, then, is more fulfilling, the temporary satisfaction of success or the enduring reward of failure...?"