Success is not built on success. It's built on failure. It's built on frustration. Sometimes its built on catastrophe !!!

A teacher was helping one of her kindergarten students put on his shoes. He had asked for help and the teacher could not make out why with her pulling and him pushing, the shoes did not want to go on! When the second shoe was on, and the teacher had worked up a sweat, the boy said, :Madam, they are on the wrong feet!"

She looked. Sure enough, they were!

It was not easy to pull the shoes off.

And then when she had managed to get the first shoe on the correct foot and was about to get the second one on the other, the boy announced, "They are not my shoes!"

The teacher bit her tongue and said to the boy, "Why did not you tell me this at the very beginning?"

The boy replied, "They are my brother's. My mom made me wear them!"

The teacher did not know whether to laugh or to cry. She then managed to get the second shoe on.

When she thought it was all over, then she saw the socks were not put on.

She asked the boy, "Where are your socks, son?"

He told her with a child's innocence that he had stuffed them in the front of his shoes...!

It was only then that the teacher realized why she had difficulty in getting the shoes on to the boy's feet!

Many of our frustrations comes as a result of having to do something over and over again. Whether it is paying the bills, dealing with harsh criticism, the situation at work, expectations not met, struggles of dealing with a rebellious child at home, when you are about to feel that at least you are near to see light at the end of the tunnel, you face more unexpected adversity! Life is not an easy matter. You cannot live through it without falling into frustration. Our frustration is greater when we have much and want more than when we have nothing and want some. You want to think and say that you have everything you need, but then you realize that something is missing, someone is missing... and once you think you've found it, it goes and disappears on you and you don't understand what to do or even where to start looking for that missing piece of the puzzle. You sit in lonely frustration and you just wait...wait...and wait. No where to look, no one to look for. We are less dissatisfied when we lack many things than when we seem to lack but one thing. Our fatigue is often caused not by work, but by worry, frustration and resentment. It is hardly possible to build anything if frustration, bitterness and a mood of helplessness prevail.

Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion, and one must prefer to laugh. Frustration, although quite painful at times, is a very positive and essential part of success. All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is this: Act as if it were impossible to fail. That is the talisman, the formula, the command of right about face which turns us from failure to success. Frustration is the compost from which the mushrooms of creativity grow. We should believe that all our past failure and frustration were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living we now enjoy. People who fail to achieve their goals usually get stopped by frustration. They allow frustration to keep them from taking the necessary actions that would support them in achieving their desire. You get through this roadblock by plowing through frustration, taking each setback as feedback you can learn from, and pushing ahead. You'll not find many successful people who have not experienced this. All successful people learn that success is buried on the other side of frustration. People need trouble - a little frustration to sharpen the spirit on, toughen it; you have to learn fortitude, endurance. Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.

A real hero is an individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles !

A long time ago there was a great general who was faced with a situation which made it necessary for him to make a drastic decision to ensure his success on the battlefield. He was about to send his army on shore to face a powerful enemy, whose men outnumbered his. He loaded his soldiers into boats, and sailed to face the enemies on shore. When they reached the shore, he ordered them to unload the soldiers and cargoes. He then ordered for all the ships and boats to be burned. Addressing his men before the battle, he said, “You see the ships and boats going up in smoke. That means that we cannot leave these shores alive unless we win! We now, have no choice – either we win, or we perish.” They WON!

Just like the general, we have to burn all our if we want to achieve success. There can be no room for retreat and we must have an attitude of, “Whatever it takes”, taking into consideration that we can have anything we desire provided we do not violate Universal Laws and the rights of our fellow human beings. Why do people fail? Two major reasons for this are - first inability to escape past (ie contentment with current performance, accumulation of abundant resources etc) and second inability to reinvent future (ie tested and tasted recipe for success, success confirms a strategy etc) . This leads to tunnel vision, zero creativity and innovation, inability to resolve conflicts and produce results. Do not dwell on the past. Move forward with confidence to make a difference and we will surely see success, unexpected in common hours.

Change can't be given to you every time, you only must bring the change !

Years ago some scientists did a simple experiment on a bullfrog. They threw a bullfrog into a container of boiling water, and the bullfrog instantly popped out of the boiling water. Next they put the bullfrog into a container of cold water. The bullfrog liked it and stayed in the container. The scientists then turned on the heat at the bottom of the container. As the water got warmer, the bullfrog relaxed and took a nap. The bullfrog was so comfortable that it stayed in the container and was “cooked”.

Most of us are always in the “comfort zone”. We go to a work place to do routine work (most probably as per our liking at a place of our choice, expecting that no one will monitor and ask about progress and will also be highly rewarded later on - if not, isn't it that many of us always wanted to have a cool work place like that with no disturbing changes taking place), have a house to go home to, a nice bed to sleep on, food in the fridge, a group of friends to mingle with, many frequent holidays or leaves to play and make merry with family and friends, along with some basic necessities of life. We have worked hard to get to where we are now. So why should we change this? The truth is most of us are like the bullfrog, because we feel warm and comfortable, we refuse to get out of our comfort zone, and prefer to stay where we are. In life we are either creating or disintegrating. There is no such thing as “staying where we are”, because there is always movement. So if we are not moving ahead in life, we must by nature, be moving in the opposite direction. The key to change is to let go of fear of failure.Think, decide, stand up, look, work and go for change to do better and to move ahead in life. Either you will succeed or fail - neither of these is dead sure or permanent. Either of these will be there at one or other point of time and are an integral part of an active life. It is inevitable that some defeat will enter even the most victorious life. The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated. it is finished when it surrenders.