Life is a mixture

Failure

This article will be different.
I am a teacher and am announcing to my students confidently looking at them:" Students, you must memorize and never forget this valuable important equation written on the board that won't make you get a mark and that isn't included or needed in any exam:
Failure= 1/2 success

but it's important in your actions and achievements, and what your life depends on and survive by "
Some of my students look confused, other glad that they don't need to add another equation to their big memorizing equations list, but few of the students look bored and doesn't care about the equation
After a minute one of them raise his hand and asks after given the permission: " How ?"
I smile and ask the whole class in return: " Who is interested to hear a story that will answer and proof the equation ?"
No one from the class raises their hands except for three : the curious student, the story lover student, and the confused student. The others either don't care or don't believe or agree.
So I keep my confident up and say looking at everyone and start telling the story that goes like this:

There was a boy called Thomas,he was a runner (not in the maze) and he had a great speed that he won by in many competitions, and was known in school by The Best Runner. One day, one of his wishes to share in the The Champion Island Game got granted, his school signed his name for the first time in the challenging participants list. Champion Island is a contest where certain participants enter a different island every year which is some how dangerous and has many obstacles, traps, and hard levels, and whoever get out from it first wins, it's what the brave fast high spirit Tom all wanted, a place where he can go through an adventure with his great speed.
That day finally came, the day Thomas had been training for from a year, running hard and fast every day and sharing in every running contest possible. The time for the excited high skilled participants picked from every school to begin the game started, and of course Thomas ran so fast passing all the participants after a second of hearing the whistle that announced that the challenge began, leaving behind surprised participants trying to catch up but they were far away from him.
He kept focusing one turning, escaping, and avoiding all the obstacles to stay running on ground instead of wasting the time on passing through the obstacles. Although he sometimes fall but he kept running in a good speed having little times of breaks when he get really tired, but he would start fast after every break. He was doing really good, steadying his heart beat and running in a high speed without reaching his limits, until he noticed the end of the island and so he ran at the highest speed he has, which was so much for a teenager like him but he trained so much and hard making his body and legs used to his very high speed. When he got to the end, he stopped before reaching the ending line shocked by knowing that three participants that weren't fast runners got there and were having a snack. Thomas couldn't believe that, how did they got there before him and he was running fast plus that they aren't known by their speed. Thomas fall to his knees shocked and then disappointed, after all the hard long exhausting training he had done for a year and all his hard work in the island, he couldn't reach the first and he didn't win. After all the participants got out, helicopters came to pick them up to the main stage on town to reward the champion of the Olay island and the people cheered.Thomas and the others got the surviving medals since they participated, but that didn't satisfy Thomas or made him feel a bit happy or even a little cheerful like he was rarely when he didn't win a running contest once in the past, all the time from realizing who's the winner until he got home the thought that he kept saying and believing:

That day was the worst day for him and for all his family who felt for his depression and devastation. No one was able to cheer him up or make him a little bit happy or to smile, not even his friends that he like spending time with. A whole month passed as if it's a year for Thomas who depressed that he wouldn't eat the food he loved from his dear mother but in less amounts, he didn't want to go out whatever the place is or whoever would come, he would just sit in his room wanting to be alone. He had failed what he trained and been tired for but without result since he didn't won in that game Everyday he would feel angriness , sadness, disappointment, and regret, He never spoke but two words: I failed. His failure did really affect him so badly that he wished he would forget that day.
One day he decided to get out of the house to distract himself from the two words after being sick of being depressed for a long time, while he was walking on the street, until he heard someone complaining: " Why won't it work ? ", he turned left and saw a boy in front of a running race catching his breath while looking at a time watch and yelled again :" It's totally pointless, I won't win "
Thomas called out: " Hey, want any help ?"
After a couple of minutes, Thomas sat with the boy, and the boy explained that he is trying to run faster than his friends because his friends are going to decide if he can join the soccer team that needs a fast player or not if he finished the race in a very short period of time but it's not working with him, so Thomas asked him to run again the whole race in front of him after having a break. Thomas watched the boy run from the start to the end closely. After the boy had finished, Thomas confessed: " I can see that you have high speed but you are making a mistake, you start running so fast that you end up being tired and so you become so slow in the half of the race, How about you try to start running fast but then slow down a little bit and run less faster that you was to gain your speed again until you reach half the race and then you start running faster and faster until you reach the highest speed you have and try to keep running at the same speed when you are running less faster and when you in the highest speed"
After following Thomas instruction for 3 rounds, the boy found out that it's working he almost reached the required time he need to join, Thomas got happy and said to him to keep practicing that way and he would get what he want. Before Thomas left, the boy called: " You didn't tell me how did you know?"
Thomas turned around and called: " Because I once done your mistake and lost, but then I learned from it and that made me run so fast and win in many contest"
The boy replied: " You are right. Learning from mistakes when you fail is the way to success and winning, so thanks Best Runner"
Thomas stood freezing saying to himself: " Why haven't I thought of that before, if I really want to win the Champion Island Game, I have to know what did I do wrong and learn from it"
So Thomas rewatched the video that he was given after that game showing what he did from the start of the game till the end. After hours he knew his mistake which was avoiding obstacles that lead him to faraway ways and depending only in speed. From that day he began to train on his flexibility to pass through obstacles fast and thinking fast.
In the end Thomas who failed in the Champion Island Game, became the winner of The Champion Island Game at the next year and that also lead him to win in other high competitions around countries, and then the World "
After the story I faced the students that became interested and asked pointing at the important valuable equation: " So who isn't interested to try on and follow this equation  ? "

Next time, I will write about one of the worst enemies of the human: Procrastination