The Benefits of Failure

Good morning Mr Chairperson Ladies and Gentlemen.

We are taught at a young age that failure is not an option. In every faucet of our life we will have to prove to others that we measure up, that we are worthy of our accomplishments and strive to be the best of the best. If only I had some sort of magical power to see into the future. To steer me in the right direction, to dodge lifes pitfalls and take the guess work from what is to become my future success.

Although this mystical ability to foresee the future exists only in fairytails and science fiction, I found myself entangled in the true life story of J.K. Rowling. For those who do not know her by name you will know her as the author of Harry Potter. This I thought to my self this would be a person who would know all about wizardry and who has experienced more success than I find imaginable. However while delivering a Harvard commencement speech in 2008, she did not dote on the importance of business or economic privilege she spoke on what she believed was the most important life lesson... the benefits of failure.
As a youngster growing up in a modest household of working class parents she flourished and became educated with a university degree. Although her life long dream was to write novels and her passion was for english literature, her parents persuaded her to pursue a degree in modern languages, one that was thought to be more lucrative that greek mythology. She was considered a success by all measures of the faculty, those same measures that were calculated by reports and examinations, but this apparent success was short lived.

Seven years after graduating she found herself in the midst of a divorce, a single parent and jobless. She was as poor as a person could be without being homeless. She considered herself a failure. With all of her inessentials stripped away she made the decision to stop pretending she was anything other than what she was. In return she began finishing the only work that mattered to her. With a old typewriter and a big idea that rock bottom failure had become a solid foundation on witch she rebuilt her life. The moral of this incredible womans story is that if she had succeeded in doing any thing else, she would never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena in which she truely belonged.