Failure is not Fatal

Time passes by. People change. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. You go through series of events in life that were rather unexpected and may change your plan drastically. You may feel that nothing is going right and you are just failure in life. You may also feel lonely at times; that no one cares about you. It happens to the best of us. No matter how happy we are or how smooth our life is going, we will always come across an unexpected bumpy road. The question now is, will you just stop right before the bumpy road and hope that it will somehow just become smooth? Or will you take a detour and try to find a smoother road? Or will you try to make the best of it and find the smoothest path on the bumpy road.

Sir Winston Churchill once said that “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” For those going through the rough time, this may sound so ridiculous. It may not make any sense. It may feel like courage is hidden so deep under that it will never submerge back up to help you through the rough times. Trust me; I know this because I have felt it. Just about a year ago, I hit a bumpy road. To be completely honest I was depressed. I was ashamed. I felt worthless. I felt like a failure. I felt like a big disappointment to my parents. I felt like I failed my younger brother by not being such a great role model.

It may not seem as though I am still going through this bumpy road, but I am travelling it so I know. I feel that it will soon pass, but as of now, it is still bumpy. However, I have no complains. Where is the fun in life, if life is just one smooth path? Not until recently did I find the courage to embrace this challenge. Still at times my negativity clouds my perception. Even now, at times, that I think I am not good enough. Even now, I undermine my own capabilities. That is where my family and friends come in. Without all the support from my friends and family who kept reminding me that I am not a failure, this would have been more difficult than it is/ was.

This is not the time to quit. I am way too young to just give up on my dreams. I cannot wait for the path to just become smooth. It may take too long and I may not have that much time. This is also not the time to take a detour to find a smoother road. I have come down this path far too long to go back trying to finding a smoother road. I may get lost. So, I decided I will stay on the bumpy path. It can’t stay bumpy forever. So why not try to find the smoothest path along the bumpy road. What other options do I have other than to make the best of it?

If you can relate to me than you know exactly what I mean when I say 'courage is hidden so deep inside that you cannot see if it will ever submerge back up'. At this time the only people that can help you is yourself and your close ones. Without a support system, individually we are weak. Regardless of how strong or macho you think you are, you are nothing without your support system. Whether it’s your family or your best friend or that special someone, you need someone who believes in you; someone, who can remind you to believe in yourself. You need that one person who says “hey, you can do it” when you feel like giving up. You need that one person who says “hey, you are smart” when you feel dumb. You need that one person who says “hey, take a deep breath and smile” when all you want to do is cry.

For me this one person came in a form of a friend, and became so much more than just a friend in such a short little while. You know who you are. I wanted to let you know how special you are to me. Thank you for reminding me that I can do what I set out to do. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for making me believe in myself. Thank you for having the faith in me, the faith that I had somehow lost. Thank you for everything. I hope that you will continue to be by my side lifting my spirits up when I'm down. And I hope I can have the same effect on you. 

Future may seem dark. Success may seem faded. But you know you are much stronger than that. You will get through the rough times regardless of how rough it is. Trust me. The bump in the road will eventually subside. Just surround yourself with the people you love. Keep your head up high. If you fall, get back up, dust yourself off, and try again. Don’t try to please everyone. Do the things that you want to do, not what others expect of you; because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter won’t mind. Believe in yourself because I believe in you. Your family believes in you. Your true friends believe in you. And remember “Failure is success if we learn from it.” - Malcolm Forbes

I will leave you with the words by one of my favourite actress Marilyn Monroe: “I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go. Things go wrong so that you can appreciate them when they’re right. You believe in lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself. And sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together”