Failure As Motivation

(image by Gerd Altmann on pixabay.com)

When I was in high school, I was seriously into playing music. I played flute, classical guitar, and saxophone. I chose a more distant high school because of its highly regarded music teacher. I was studying flute with one of the city’s best orchestral performers. Every Friday after school, I would schlep downtown on a series of three buses to take lessons at the Vancouver Music School. Then I would take one bus back and catch a ride home with my dad from his work. I was determined to go into music at university.

In my final year of high school, I was given a difficult solo to play and I invited my teacher to come and watch. When the time came to perform, my nerves got the best of me and my mouth dried up like a cup of sand. The solo was passable at best, and I felt humiliated and embarrassed. It was after this concert that my parents broke the news to me that they couldn’t afford to send me to UBC for music because it was too far to commute, and the cost of living in dorms was prohibitive. Then, as icing on the cake, I had a frank conversation with my flute teacher. She gently told me that it was very hard to make a living as a flautist and if there was any other career path I would enjoy, I should take it.

All of this felt like a complete failure to me. My dream had come crashing down. Now I needed to change course entirely and choose a different path. What should I do? My parents were pushing me towards a business degree. I enrolled in the closer university and started taking accounting, math, and economics for two years. I got poor grades and felt miserable. Then I ran into an old friend from high school who was shocked at my chosen area of study. He said, “How are you taking business? You are the most artsy-fartsy person I know!”

This struck a chord with me. I knew he was right. I dropped out of business and began studying French and English literature, as well as Spanish and German. My grades were excellent, and for the first time, I loved my courses. After moving to Montreal, I eventually I found my career path as a French Immersion teacher.

If I had never failed at my first two endeavors, I would not know have found the right path for me. I believe that failure is always a fork in the road, pushing us to change direction and redefine what makes us happy.

Have you ever failed at something? Please subscribe / comment below.