be proud of your failures

i've noticed that kuwaiti (and arab) culture has a problem with admitting failure. local custom seems to frown on anyone that admits they have made a mistake even years or even decades after the fact has been established.



heck we refuse to acknowledge that we lost the lead centuries ago in the civilization game so i think the trait is pretty endemic to the region.



as the old saying goes: the first part to solving a problem is admitting you have one and i think its about time for a change in thinking to at least recognize that we have problems and then work on solving them.



my connection with this reality is even closer to home: i find that the older generations give us little in the way of problems and pitfalls from their own lives that can be learned from. not only do they not document it but they refuse to even speak about it unless cornered by someone that has found out through other sources.



i think its about time we make a change and be proud of our failures. we need to take every slap in the face that is legitimately earned with a sense of appreciation that this is a learning experience and a path to development. self-reflection is undoubtedly preferable to blaming someone else. the former leads to enlightenment and the realization that we are going somewhere while the latter is only a waste of time.