It Is Better to Have Tried and Failed Than to Have Never Tried Essay

The saying â€Å"actions speak louder than words† can be applied to this scenario. Many people often dare to dream but fear stops them from ever moving forward on their goals. The fear of failure, of not knowing if it is possible to accomplish what may seem like the most unrealistic dream a person sets out to achieve. One example we can learn from is one of the greatest swimmer the world has seen, Ian Thorpe. Four time Swimming World’s Swimmer of the Year, Ian Thorpe once said, â€Å"I think it’s better to attempt something and fail than it is to not even attempt it, so I’m glad that I’ve been prepared to put myself on the line there. Till today, these words continue to ring in my head as I finally realised that it’s better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all. Ian Thrope, born on the 13 October in 1982, is many times a World Champion and has won eleven World Championship golds, the third-highest number of any swimmer. He was also the Australian swimmer of the year from 1999 to 2003, 4 years running. After winning and earning so many prestigious awards, Ian Thorpe announced his retirement on 21 November 2006. After almost 5 years out of the swimming world, the swimming sensation decided that he would try to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London. However, no matter how much he tried and the 110% he gave, he did not make it to the 2012 Olympics. Despite his many failures, he still remains as an international inspiration to many, teaching us that it is definitely better to tried and failed than not to have tried at all. Ian Thorpe’s story teaches us that even though we have the most unrealistic goals in life, it is more important to go down fighting, not leaving behind any last regrets. Failure is indeed our best teacher. Being able to go through failure would not kill a person, in fact, it would only make someone stronger. Even when failure sets in, it is good to know that one has given it their all. Even if it doesn’t work out as planned, it is better than looking back and not knowing what one could have done. Speaking from personal experience, failure is the mother of success, and without overcoming the challenge posed to me, I would not make it a step further. For example, ever since I stepped on the podium in the primary school swimming nationals, I have always wanted to have the chance to do it again in the secondary school, scoring more points for my school. This year was the last year the school nationals where I could have a chance on stepping on the podium once again and I made use of the opportunity I was given. I started training extremely hard, to a point where I was at the pool at 5 in the morning and back again after school at 4 in the afternoon for strength as well as water training. The number of times I would turn up could go up to ten times a week. This arduous task went on for four to five months and in between, I still had to make sure that I was keeping up with school curriculum. At the recent national schools, I competed and instead was placed 5th, missing the podium by a whopping one second. Although I failed to reach the goal I set out to achieve, I knew that there was nothing else I could do as I have always wanted to represent the country in the Combined School Games and the recent National Schools Swimming Championship would have been my chance to qualify for the games. I started training extremely hard, to a point where I was at the pool at 5 in the morning and back again after school at 4 in the afternoon for strength as well as water training. The number of times I would turn up could go up to ten times a week. This arduous task went on for four to five months and in between, I still had to make sure that I was keeping up with school curriculum. At the championships, not only did I not qualify for the games, I was also placed 5th, missing out on the podium placing. Although I failed to reach the goal I set out to achieve, I knew that there would be no regrets as I was defeated fighting. â€Å"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. † Although failure may be hard to face, if one doesn’t go down fighting, trying with maximum effort, that could be considered the greatest failure of all time.