The Set Back

 We have all been set back atleast a couple of times in our lives. None of us will leave this world without ever facing a certain challenge that will pull us back.

Now that we have established that we will all face set backs, the big question is how should we deal with them?

In my own opinion the set back is a set up for the come back. Set backs come not to stop us but to challenge our will. Many people will tell you how the darkest moments in their lives birthed  a new beautiful thing. Nelson Mandela was set back for 27 long years, but it is clear today that he was tested to be trusted. Today his face is on the money... today his name represents hope, love and peace.

Many of us feel discouraged by set backs because all we want is smooth sailing. But the scenarios we would prefer do not help us grow, instead they hinder us from being the best we can be. They usually put it like this ;Soft men create hard times and hard times create strong men. My own humble opinion is that we must be happy everytime we get set back, because concealed in the set back are great opportunities for growth and improvement. 

The good news is that as long as you are alive you have been qualified to come back harder, stronger... Set backs mean we often go back to a familiar situation with new experience. Experience seems to matter so much that it has become difficult to get employment without.The experience is preparing you for what has been prepared for you in other terms every step forward and "set back" is meant to propel you into the future you desire. The posetives and negatives are necessary ingridients and are both designed to bring out the best in you not to harm you. 

Failing at a certain thing only means you failed not that you are a failure. It also means that you are attempting to do something that has a certain level of difficulty. Those who attempt the difficult must brace themselves for set backs and accept them as a part of the process. My "hero" Vusi Thembekwayo said the following profound statement "If you are an innovator in Africa you have to be deliberate about failing. A business can’t develop a breakthrough product or process if it’s not willing to encourage risk-taking and learn from subsequent mistakes."

What Mr Thembekwayo means is that failures and set backs are proof that we are attempting something challenging hence the result (set backs). Whenever we attempt to change, become healthier and grow spiritually or materially, we will be set back for change doesn't happen overnight. The only way you achieve your goal is through faith and application of previous experience(Trial and error). 

You cannot overcome if the set backs stop you, for winners and losers have the same goals. The only difference between those who win and those who lose is their  perspective of set backs. There is also another great gift in set backs ;you gain knowledge through the process. You can now advice people and trouble shoot because you have been there, done that, got the T-shirt... And they always say that experience is the best teacher. 

Failure is the opposite of success, but you cannot have one without the other. In my terms, failure is success.. Set backs are come backs in the process of being. Let me put it this way ;being young is being old in the process. You cannot get old if you were never young... You cannot come back without the set back, because without it there is nothing to come back from. Every experience is a lesson, it does not matter if the experience is good or bad. 

My whole point can be Summarized in these  simple statements. 

1.Set backs are lessons fashioned as "failures", when in fact they are pregnant with opportunities of success.

2.All we have to do is keep coming back harder & never give up. 

3.Set backs make us stronger, better and more experienced....There is more value in set backs than being an instant success.