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Let us realize that giving up is easy but if we avoid failures, we are also avoiding success.
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” – Paulo Coelho
It was the year 2000 when I had passed my 10th standard exam and stood third in my school. My name appeared somewhere on the second page of the newspaper in minuscule letters and it made me feel very proud of this little achievement. There was indeed a sense of elation at becoming a mini-celebrity among my family and friends. Success felt sweeter and I was basking in its glory. Little did I realize that I was slowly getting loaded with unseen pressure of being undefeated at all times.
This small victory had fuelled the innate urge in me to impress others. So, I started studying with full fervour and set myself on fire to keep others warm. Extrinsic motivation could not stand the test of time and when my 11th standard first term exams were approaching, I felt sudden tremors of cold feet. Completely unprepared for the exams, I had this impulse to run away from the looming failure, knowing very well that I will not be able to sail through the rough tide.
As part of a ploy, I tried jumping from the mini-terrace. I thought if I break my legs I would be able to escape the fatal exam but alas! my bones refused to tear apart. I tasted failure and it broke me. Two-three more attempts and I came through all the perils unscathed. The ineffectual attempts prompted me to orchestrate a different escapade in order to skip exams but lack of creativity made me decide to plead with my parents instead, for allowing me to leave exams. I gathered all my hidden courage and spoke to them on how the anxiety of scoring poor marks did not allow me to study well and thus I fervently wanted to skip exams to arrest my impending failure. Till then, I did not know that;
“There is no failure except in no longer trying.” – Chris Bradford
To my utter dismay, my father, who had never said NO to me, did not relent to my whimpers. However, he calmly made me understand that failure is a desideratum, just a temporary detour and not a dead end. He told me that if I do not write the exams for the fear of failure, I might get away from the worry of what others will think about my incapability but my inner conscience will still call me a failure! That was undeniably a wake-up call to me. Instantly, I felt elevated in my thoughts and decided to let go of my fear of an imaginary debacle and appear for the exam.
Like this, many times, all of us come across these kinds of situations where we tend to easily succumb to the pressure and give up rather than giving a try. Let us realize that giving up is easy but if we avoid failures, we are also avoiding success.
“Phoenix must burn to emerge” – Janet Fitch
This is an anecdote based on a real story.
Image source: Pixabay
Hi!I am Shubham. I work as an HR Manager.I am a Math enthusiast and also have my YouTube channel - Solve With Shubham which has been started with an intention to help students primarily read more...
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