In a society where success is praised and failure is looked down upon, it is only normal for people to be scared of failure and to strive to be the best. By failure, I do not mean receiving an "F" in school. I mean failure as in when life doesn't go as planned, or when you feel like you will never be able to achieve anything. The "Merriam-Webster" dictionary defines failure as the lack of success. Everyone has a different definition of success and therefore a different perception of failure, but there is one thing that is universal—no one likes to fail and failure is almost always viewed as something negative.
There is something about failing and not being able to succeed that makes people crumble, and the shame and unfortunate feelings that come with failure only makes it worse. Everyone possesses some sort of pride so failing will inevitably hurt or effect you somehow.
I failed numerous times in my 20 years of living and every time has been as uncomfortable as the next. It's a sharp, heart sinking feeling that you can't quite describe but a feeling that everyone can relate to. Why are people so afraid of failing and why does it feel so painful? Although everyone will have different answers to this question, it is safe to say that people do not like the feeling of defeat and uncertainty.
Growing up as someone who strived to have the "ideal" or "perfect" life, I hated dealing with failure and any obstacles in general. However, I changed a lot in the past two years in the sense that I do not let failure hold me back anymore. Now I view it as an opportunity to learn and improve. I am not saying that I no longer have fears of failing because it is only human to have these fears, but I have a much more optimistic outlook now. When I fail now, I do not crawl in a hole and I do not feel defeated in life. Rather, I accept it and evaluate the circumstances so that I can learn from it and get better results in the future. I have my mother to thank for this change because she has always been a positive role model and one of my greatest supporters. Whenever something did not go smoothly in my life, she would be disappointed and would feel the same upset emotions as me. But she always reassured me and approached the situation positively. She always found the silver lining and would tell me to take every failure and obstacle in my life as a learning experience.
Do not be afraid to fail because it's normal, unavoidable and oftentimes necessary. At the end of the day, no one is perfect and people need to fail in order to get stronger and learn more about this crazy thing we call life. I am by no means saying that we should view failure as something positive, but I am saying that there are some benefits in failure.
Once you look beyond the pain and negatives of the obstacles in life, you will be able to see more of the beauty in things. As strange as it is, there is even beauty in failure. When you view failure as an opportunity to learn, grow and improve yourself, it is not all that bad. It can even be great in the sense that you will eventually learn how to succeed through your failures and even achieve things you never thought possible before. Don't let failure discourage you and don't be too quick to label failure as a completely negative thing. It is not failure that defines you but it is the way you deal with it and what you do after that truly reflects your character.
