While I was in school, there was this friend of mine who followed us to write a professional examination, but when the result came out, he failed a course in it. Instead of feeling down and discouraged, it fueled him to do more. He reviewed his weaknesses, changed his methods of studying, sought for professional help, and became more disciplined in his studies. Adorably, he rewrote the exam and passed excellently. But much more than that, he became improved in his academics, became more studious, and became a better student. What was supposed to be a setback for him became a setup for something great. In life, no matter what comes to you, you can always convert it to your advantage and make the best out of it.
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Life does not always move linearly in a straight line. In fact, the journey to your destination may be full of twists, turns, and even obstacles, but it is the pathway to success, purpose, and fulfilment. However, these challenges can feel like setbacks, and can even make you feel like your efforts are wasted or that you are failing. But there exists a deeper truth beyond what you can see. The truth is that a lot of things that people call setbacks are just setting the pace for something better - a better comeback. This is why you have to look beyond setbacks as challenges, and see them as setups.
It is worthy to note that setbacks are not necessarily roadblocks, they can be setups for something better and greater. When something challenging happens, it can force you out of your comfort zone, and make you to take the steps that you have been long overdue to take. There are things that you may never be able to achieve naturally until you are prompted by a seemingly negative occurrence. There may be a resident strength inside you that you may not unleash until you are faced with challenges. If you are faced with difficulty for example, you may ask yourself "what went wrong?" "How will this get better?" "What can I do to improve?" These questions will cause you to grow, mature, and become more self-aware.
During setbacks, you tend to build more resilience and grow in discipline and confidence. Trust me, all these hard times that you face are part of what make you better, and make you who you are. As a soldier for example, no one will give you the rank of a General if you have not witnessed battle, and if you have not been in a real combat situation. The difficult times that you face have ways of building you up. When a child is born, they will start with milk, then soft food, until hard food. When they start to eat solid and hard food, they would have matured, and then stronger. More so, they can handle the solid food because they have grown and now matured.
Setbacks can actually cause you to grow. You do not always have to see it as something negative. A friend of mine lost his job in one company some months back after the company downsized. This made him very sad because all the expectations he had almost came to a standstill. He looked for a new job and could not get one. Days turned into weeks months. So he decided to start an ICT tutorial to learn web development. It took him about 5 months to learn it. After that, he applied for some freelance gigs. Adorably, just some weeks ago, he got his first major gig to design websites for a new school that was starting. What was a setback for him was what gave him the opportunity to grow. Now he is a web developer with a lot of potentials.
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One of the very powerful aspects of setback that a lot of people do not take into account is that it brings redirection. What you might call failure might just be a way that the universe is trying to guide you away from what will not serve you for the greater good. For example; a failed job can redirect you to open your own business. A failed friendship can lead you to someone better. A failed academic pursuit can redirect you to learning a new skill that can put you in the front line. Even a failed relationship may be protecting you from a long-term harm. Always look at the good side of what happens, because it may not be as bad as you think.
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