"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts" - Winston Churchill
The old Churchill did seem to say quite a few inspiring words in his life time. But anyway that is not a matter of concern to me. Actually it's the meaning of the quote which is the main theme of this story. It is again one of the inspiring one liners that tell us to concentrate on the journey and not on the results etc. Somehow this thought inspires the radical thinking mind of mine if not anything else. Right now it's not the best frame of mind that I would like to be in and hence the thoughts might seem a little off beat and of course 'cribbish'. But this is a genuine confusion that I have had over the years and I am yet to get a solution. 
I would like to think that I have been continuing on this journey to make something of myself and my life for a little over 20 years without much success (and here I am talking about success on the professional front). So how does it matter? Where is the result of the supposed courage that I think I have shown so far in facing quite a few upsets? Unfortunately, this courage is not valued at all. No one gives a damn if you are not successful. And in a way they are right. What's the point in working hard and still not making anything out of your life? If you ask me, it counts as number of failures you have had and are still willing to get out of it. It means all your efforts have been in vain, and the energy has been wasted in the wrong direction. Tell me if anyone will be happy at the end of his or her life to think that he struggled and struggled and yet could not make anything out of it. If the whole thought does not make me feel good I bet it will not make any one feel good, nor will make the other people in their lives value the efforts.
So whatever the old man said was wrong? Well, in my opinion- YES! He just gave a blatant statement without any validation for it (a.k.a. consulting); neither did he give any scale to measure the efforts. It is just a way to inspire people to keep going on because someday there will be a positive result; do not give up because that just seals the failure, while struggling keeps the hopes alive and delays failure. And of course there is a faint chance that you might meet success.
I just think at the end of the day it's the results that matter and not some bull shit struggle and courage shown by a person. Probably if I manage to make something out of my life I will let others know whether or not the courage helps or that it is better than giving up but at this moment I cannot but disagree with the old man's words.
