The word ‘Failure’ sounds like a curse. No one wants to fail in life but still we do fail at some stage. Since we were born, we failed most of the time when we started to walk; we fell down, we tumbled, but we did not consider, nor did our parents make us feel, that it was a serious failure on our part. But unfortunately, now we are grown up and if we fail it feels like a terrible thing, and is not accepted by society and by people who are close to you, not even by your parents. We are now constrained by the reactions of other people and it is like, “Hamari izzat ka khayaal rakho kam se kam, log kya kahengey, naak kat jayegi”.
Oh, God! Why am I involved in the respect that you have gained in life? Why am I getting emotionally tortured for the sake of being a perfect human that no one can be? The question can be asked to that “izzat wala person” as well: what have you done in your life? Are you a perfect human being? Haven’t you ever failed in life? Have you done something that no one else could do?
The reply to such questions could be strange: “Hamari baat alag thi, hamnay apni zindagi guzaar li”. It means that now a person is trying to fulfil all his/her wishes through you. However, every person has his own ability and uniqueness and individuality. If a person fails in any field, it doesn’t mean he/she is not worth anything. We are all humans who are here to learn. It is better to not judge ourselves on the basis of some failures that we face.
According to Walt Disney, “Everyone falls down. Getting up is how you learn to walk.” Every person has to face failure in life once or many times. From failure a person can learn what is not taught anywhere in the world. No books have that knowledge, nor any teacher; not even Google can tell you that. I am sure that only failure can make us strong enough to face problems. What if we never fail in life? Will that be success? Will that mean a person is perfect? All these questions have one simple answer: no human being can be perfect. There are many shortcomings in every person. We are not robots programmed to do a particular task. We are humans and we improve ourselves gradually. Losing hope or feeling disheartened doesn’t make any sense. Failure is only a stepping stone to success. We must keep moving ahead, not stay stuck in thinking that there was a serious fault on our part, that we made such a silly mistake, why I did what I shouldn’t have done, or what I could have done better. These thoughts will only make a person upset. No person can get a solution to a particular problem till he/she starts working to fix it. A strong resolve is required to get out from a problem as well as to face it, to overcome it. No matter which situation you are in, there will be definitely a solution to it. Humans have the ability to bring a change and why shouldn’t we? Only one life we have and if we are not doing anything with it, then what is the purpose of our life? We are different from other species and we are stronger than them.
Whenever we try something new, we get a different feeling. The same way when we fail in any kind of task, we learn something new. Failure is neither a fault nor a curse. Nobody is living the life of another person. Every individual is unique and that uniqueness makes a lot of difference, so there is no point in comparison with anyone around. What we need to do is to focus on what we have to achieve. Consider failure as a strength, as a shield that is going to protect you in tough times. Worthy words were said by Robert F. Kennedy: “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” In conclusion I would like to say that this notion in our society and in our minds that failure is bad should be wiped out. Instead of torturing ourselves, we should focus on the lesson we learnt from the failure. It is not shameful to fail. It is the beginning of success and we should accept it cheerfully.

—The writer is an undergraduate student. [email protected]

Adnan Mushatq