You Have Not Failed

This lecturer is known to be strict, but sarcasm was a side of her that no one ever saw, at least not before today. She sat with our Interim Assessment/Mid-Semester Exam scripts in her hand and called out, "Come for your headache!". She started mentioning names, and I watched as people's smiles turned upside down when they saw their score. Had they failed? She finally said my name, and she smiled. I should never have smiled back. I took my paper and saw the beautifully inscribed score at the top right corner and shook my head. "Is that my score?" I asked her. She heaved a sigh of disappointment, and replied, "No, my dear, it is a house number". The girls in the front seats giggled. But had I failed?
 
We all face moments like this when we lose all hope in the race right at the first hurdle, especially when others find our fall amusing and we don't. You should not write yourself off just yet. Your life is a novel. A marvellous book that you keep writing with every single breath you take. What makes a good novel? You might say some beautifully paced drama, suspense, adventure and a roller coaster of emotions.

Do you see where I am going with this? Just as a novel needs the triumphs for a great climax, it needs the tense, sad moments to set up these triumphs. If life was only a "from victory onto victory" affair, we would not really appreciate the joy in getting it right after numerous fails would we?

 You should see life as a swing seat. There is a moment, as you swing, when you are high in the air. Where do you start though? The ground of course.

Picture your struggling moments as the ground. You need to push your feet against the ground if you want that boost up, up and away. You surely keep coming back to the ground and kicking it to go up again. All part of the fun, or? That is exactly how you should see your 'failures'. They are challenges. They are meant to be overcome. This only makes your story beautifully interesting. It makes your life such a masterpiece of a novel that those who do not see you shine today will soon be telling others how bright you are.
 
Keep trying, keep learning, keep kicking, keep swinging; for you, my friend, have not failed.

Elvis "YPa" Owusu