Failing Successfully
Two years ago I took part in a speech competition and delivered a memorized speech. It was a hard time for me when the judge 1 the winners. At last, the moment of truth came. I got the worst.
After not being placed in the competition, I really wanted to 2 again. I realized that finding the right topic was the most important part of the whole 3 . It needs to be motivational and inspirational to the 4 . So I reworked my speech for the following year, 5 a different topic and spending many hours before the computer and in libraries doing research. Then I worked 6 the speech, line by line, word by word, making it 7 better.
The next year I participated in the competition again. I gave my 8 in two parts, one was about my own experience and the other was about the feelings that people usually have when giving a speech—how 9 it is, standing on a stage all alone, with everyone sitting and watching them. My speech 10 down well and I was hoping to do that a little bit better. 11 , my wish didn't come true. The competition was so fierce and again I wasn't 12 .
I was deeply disappointed, since I couldn't accept the fact that I had 13 twice in something that I had worked so hard on. However, I knew that losing is 14 and part of life. One of the judges said to me that my speech was quite good, 15 it needed to be better if I wanted to go any further. He advised me to struggle to 16 something like some of the empty gestures. He said that I would surely succeed someday.
While I didn't earn 17 as a result of the competition I did gain a new viewpoint. I discovered that I could fail successfully. I think I'll 18 to work hard and enter the next competition. Now, whenever I'm faced with a defeat, I 19 myself of what a famous person said, "The path was worn and slippery. My foot slipped from under me, knocking the other out of the way, but I recovered and said to myself that it's a slip and not a 20 ."
