The fear of failing. It doesn’t drive you anymore, but stops you from taking risks. Fear, no longer lets you live your life but rather stops you from doing things you really want to do. It used to be a feeling that would make you work harder or take that risk but now its a catalyst to giving up and merely hoping for the best.

Whether it is relationships, friendships, work, college, life. We have stopped taking risks because of what failure could do to us. Destruction. We don’t like destruction because we worked so hard for so long that when it comes tumbling down, it breaks us to a point where we no longer see the point of taking another risk. These days, everything is a risk. Times have changed, in some aspects for better and some for worse. We see failure as a STOP sign, not as a Speed Bump sign.

I learnt it the hard way. That failure is good. I have not mastered the acceptance of failure yet but I am much better at it than I was. I remember the first time I had failed. It was my first math exam in 7th grade. I came home crying, thinking my life was over and being Indian, I thought I was going to be shunned. But instead, the opposite happened, my parents told me to look at it as an opportunity to work harder and smarter. That last bit is what I held on to tightly, smarter. It took many years and some therapy to get over my anxiety of losing control, taking more risks, letting go, and being compassionate to myself.

Maybe its the word; Failure. Maybe its the definition defined by society. Maybe its the connotation. Maybe it’s a regret rather than a reminder to push harder. Maybe it means loss instead of  a mere reaction to your action.

I have been rejected and failed in many different fields of life. Teachers have given up on me, friends have left me, boys have said no, universities have said no. Those broke me but it happened for a reason. The reason may seem unclear at that time but eventually like a eureka moment it hits you, for me it’s always in the bathroom. No judgments. But when it hits, I like to dance around and look at the mirror and laugh at myself. Which I do often, I laugh at my mistakes. We are allowed mistakes, rejections and failures. There is a reason why we aren’t perfect, so why are we trying so hard to be?Am I right or Am I right?

Indian Chameleon’s Obiter Dictum for the Day
Go take a risk today (Nothing Dangerous). What’s the worst that could happen? You’ll get over it.