Sample Student Essay—CAUSE-EFFECT (CAUSAL ANALYSIS)

Failure—the Unforeseen Blessing

The “F” word in our culture has a negative meaning. Of course the “F” word used here is failure. Failure has long been perceived as the epitome of humiliation, solid proof that a person is not good enough. Yet many people, including myself, who have been trained by failure, know what a blessing it truly is. The famous Michael Jordan once stated, “I’ve failed over and over again in my life, that is why I succeed”. The true secret is discovering that by having the proper perspective on failure, it can actually be your best teacher. This process of discovery is called emotional intelligence and entails three aspects: failure creates opportunity and gives choices, failure shows us who we really are and failure gives us influence with other people.

Every time we fail, we are given a choice. What am I going to do with this? I can wallow in my own self pity or I can choose to move forward. I remember just last week taking a simple math test and missing four problems. I was crushed! The perfectionist in me was screaming, you will never pass math. Well, I came home that day and asked my children to help me. Now, I am doing better. By taking that test and subsequently humbling myself, I now have two children that are enjoying the role reversal of teaching their mom.

If you really want to know who somebody really is don’t look at them when they succeed, look at them when they fail! Do they succumb to the emotions? Do they get angry and use that anger in a positive way? Do they try to hide their failure or shout it from the rooftops? In my own life I tend to have an over-active internal judge. I can be harder on myself than anyone else would ever be. Yet I have learned to take those times of teaching and cherish them. I learn more about myself from those times than in any other. I learn who I really am.

Failure is a given learning experience that a person can use to help make other people more comfortable around you. It also gives you influence to be able to reach them. We live in a plastic society, plastic cards and plastic people. Everything is all about appearances. I’ve noticed this is especially true in the church environment. If you ask “how are you?” they will answer “I’m fine, I’m great” when in all actuality they are not! Having the privilege to be able to lead a few groups I’ve learned that people will listen to you when you are real and will tell them about your failures. The words I’ve failed many times as a parent can become sweet music to someone who is feeling like they are failing in this realm. The words I’ve struggled in my marriage can help a married couple feel like they are not alone. By being honest and open to our failures we not only learn from our mistakes but are also able to use them to help others. 

The famous Robert F Kennedy once said, “ Only those who dare to fail greatly can achieve greatly”. By using emotional intelligence and having the proper perspective on failure we will be utilizing our best teacher. We will learn more about ourselves, more about others and be given the opportunity to teach others what we have learned.