“Failure is the key to success.”

We have all heard about a hundred variations of this same message, often accompanied by depictions of various persons of importance, all of whom have failed and failed again in the process of a remarkable breakthrough. There’s a glimmer about it, the way in which these individuals are glorified, the way they are chosen to exemplify the epitome of human progress for today’s youth, the future of the world. It’s somewhat terrifying. Still, more and more, this has become the message society want us to accept: that we as a generation, can only hope to fail if we should ever want to succeed.

Now, of course, these implications are cynical and pretty depressing. We all realize the intent of the message is arguably one of hope, and which hopes to provide an inspirational resource, not to perpetuate an adverse sense of inferiority which, if dwelled upon, would lead to nowhere. But our tendency to fall into this very trap is proof that something isn’t working. Why are we so apt to dwell on our failures, our supposed inferiority?

My argument is this: words really only go so far. We are a cynical people, and we want proof of change, whether it be in our own lives or in the world, yet we aren’t fighting for it. It doesn’t seem logical to fight for it, because, obviously failing is necessary for success, as we’ve been told. But at the same time, it’s all in our head. Our own cynicism has become a detriment to us, when really we could be using it as a tool, to find passion, to be proactive and go out and actually solve the pressing issues of today. Cynicism is beautiful, and also necessary. It allows us to examine a situation with the worst possible outcome in mind, which in turn allows us to push ourselves to our limits and even go beyond what we believed we could have done. So yes, while we may feel like we have failed, that isn’t necessarily true. Failure can hardly even be qualified. It’s too relative, too subjective, and, consequently, we tend to construe it in a way that renders any message of hope essentially inapplicable.

We shouldn’t have to spend our lives believing any good thing is inevitably terrible. As human beings, we need hope. But we must be careful to not hope blindly. If progress takes being a little cynical, why should we fear it?