Losers visualize
the penalties of failure.
Winners visualize
the rewards of success
- Rob Gilbert

A person who is responsible for his own failure should suffer for any repercussions. On the other hand, a person should not be blamed if he failed through no fault of his own, or because he did not meet situations and circumstances that were not stipulated or stated.

However, in real life we find that justice is not necessarily meted out in a fair manner. We face the Jewish concept of “tzadik ve’rah lo” and “rasha ve’tov lo” more frequently than we feel would be justified. Perhaps everything will be set straight one day in a future reincarnation, in the world to come, or even in this world. However, it is clearly difficult to comprehend the concept of failure.

Indeed, we may feel that there should never be failure in a perfect world. In that world, a perfect teacher meets a perfect student, and the teacher wants to teach and the student wants to learn.

Alas, such is not always the situation or the case. Many factors can lead to a failure – and they are frequently beyond the control of the child who fails. A person who fails should realize that his failure is not necessarily his fault.

This will help in the rebuilding process.

If we go beyond blaming, then the person may be able to understand that he can still hold his head up high and walk through the world. He can rebuild his self-esteem.

He may be able to attribute his failure to the system rather than to himself. This form of blame may indeed be useful.