Failure, or Interpreting my tent-packing instructions as a parable

In my tent-folding instructions (last post), people are likely to be drawn to step 4. That's where all the action seems to be. That's where all the pseudo-mystical ideas are introduced that clearly lead on to the miracle in step 5.

That's wrong.

The most important is step 3 After step 3, all you need to do is gain the understanding and fold the tent. Before step 3, that is impossible.

Step 3 involve failure, but without failing in exactly that way, you can't succeed. The fact that failure is sometimes vital is what many people fail to understand when they're too concerned with success.