Overcome the fear of ‘failure’

First person
Mannat Bir Kaur
Class XII student, Lawrence School, Sanawar

As I brace for the Class XII Board exams, my mind goes to thousands of students who will be appearing for their first major examination of life. Many would get the proverbial butterflies in the stomach, while some may contemplate taking the extreme step in case of failure. It set me thinking as to why we attach so much value to “success” and why we dread suffering so much in life?   

God has a purpose behind inflicting pain on you, a reason to make you struggle and he also offers you a reward for being firm in faith. There may have been times when you aspired for something and were not able to achieve it. Many a time you work hard, give all you have to get what you desire, make sacrifices but are left empty-handed at the end, making you question your worth. We all go through such trying times at some or the other point in our lives. 

Our attitude to failure or how we face it decides its impact on our life. Success is not always a measure of greatness or failure of worthlessness. It’s alright not to know all answers.

Failure is nothing but a chance to learn something anew and ultimately succeed. In every loss there is a hidden gain, too. True, it is difficult to come to terms with failure, but not getting what you want is at times a great stroke of luck. It’s proved true when you do not get what you want despite your best efforts — your destiny may have something better in store for you. Life is a cycle of ups and downs, so no gain or loss is permanent. The darkest hour of the night precedes the dawn. The healing power of time is your greatest ally in trying situations when there is despondency all around. 

Adversity raises a person’s self-awareness and suffering is a gift of the cosmos to make us see the entirety of life. Life is like a spiral staircase, where with every step your perspective on life changes. Have faith that if God brings suffering to you, He will also see you through it. 

As Urdu poet Muhammad Iqbal said, “In this world, men of faith and confidence go down on one side only to come up on the other.” To achieve something may be gratifying and seem all important, but real growth is to overcome the fear of failure.