Handling failures

Life is designed in such a way that failures are bound to happen, no matter how smart someone is. Whenever it wants to happen, it swallows up the person's smartness, and oftentimes, it occurs as a result of mistakes. This applies not only to smart people who think they can't fail but also to ordinary people—failure just happens, anyhow.

I have experienced many failures; in fact, I can't even count them. Many times, I felt like I couldn't continue because why would I keep failing at a particular spot and find it so hard to move forward? At some points, I wanted to give up, but one thing that kept me pushing and not giving up was the thought that many people have passed through this stage and even experienced worse failures, yet they succeeded in the end.

There was a time during my first year in school when I failed a course in the second semester. Since it was a polytechnic system, this meant I would need to rewrite the exam the next year, and if I failed again, I would have to come back for an extra year. This would mean paying new school fees, accommodation, and just about everything.

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That failure weakened me to the lowest level; I couldn't think straight, overwhelmed with thoughts of "What if I fail in the only chance to escape it?" The thought was so overwhelming, and it was especially tough because I wasn't among the dull students in my class so why should I fail?...my thoughts.

When the final year came, which was the year I was to rewrite the exam, I had to dive into extra studying, going all righteous and churchy, seeking mercy just to escape failure.

Did I escape failure in the exam? Yes!

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The exam turned out to be very tough, but I was well-prepared to match it. I was able to write very well, but even after the exam, I was still afraid because the lecturer in question was known to accept bribes for grades. Such a person would likely treat those who didn’t pay unfairly. However, when the result came out, I had scored well.

During that particular period, I doubted my chances of success, but one of the things that kept me going was the thought of those who had passed through the same stage and came out successful. After all, the system was designed that way, and if it wasn't efficient, it would have been scrapped. So, I figured, people have failed, resat the exam, and passed, so my case wouldn't be an exception.

Although it can be very difficult to harden your mind and adopt the mindset that you’re going to try again and succeed, it’s what I try to do always, and it’s always working for me. My prayer is, may I never encounter a failure so overwhelming that I lose the ability to hold myself together and put this habit to work.

Thanks!

This is for 'HOW TO HANDLE FAILURE' prompt

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