麻豆约拍

Sarah Joseph, editor of a Muslim lifestyle magazine

聽Like thousands of others, our daughter will get her GCSE results this Thursday.

聽She is rather stressed!

聽My husband and I have tried to assure her that we know the work that she put in, we saw her effort, and that is what we value.

聽However, it feels that we are fighting an uphill battle. Results seem so much more important now than they did 30 years ago when my envelope of O鈥橪evel results popped through my letterbox. There were pressures of course, but friends and I were musing over our sense that three decades ago there was perhaps greater room to fail.

聽Of course, I鈥檓 not advocating failure as an education strategy, or a world where we don鈥檛 measure anything, where our children are cheered at every stage regardless, and there鈥檚 no encouragement for them to strive to be better. Indeed, I got brought up with the adage, 鈥淚f a job鈥檚 worth doing, it鈥檚 worth doing well鈥� and I try and stick to that, striving to do anything and everything to the best of my ability.聽 However, I鈥檓 rather fond of the GK Chesterton spin of that famous adage, 鈥淚f a thing鈥檚 worth doing, it鈥檚 worth doing badly鈥� he quipped.

聽This is not an excuse for shoddy workmanship, rather it is a 鈥渉ave-a-go鈥� philosophy. Think of something you want to do, something which you consider 鈥渨orth doing鈥濃�攍earning to sing, playing the piano, playing tennis, or throwing a pot, for example鈥攜ou鈥檒l have to start somewhere, and you鈥檒l probably not do them very well at first. Indeed, you may聽do it badly, but if it鈥檚 worth doing, it鈥檚 worth the risk of failure. And, if you persevere, you may get to the stage of actually being good. So, I guess this is why I am a passionate advocate of 鈥渄aring to fail鈥�, and picking yourself up, and dusting yourself down if do you.

聽The idea of patiently persevering is one of the most oft repeated concepts in the Qur鈥檃n. Patient perseverance is linked to belief, to inner peace and wellbeing, to God鈥檚 companionship, to courage, and to ultimate success.

聽So for me, as a parent, I am interested in hard work, and do hope my children all get the results they need in life. However, the character shown by daring to fail, and perseverance when someone does, is for me a far more important quality.