We Get Knocked Down, but We Get Up Again

Has something ever happened in your life that is really trivial in the grand scheme of things, but in the moment it feels like the end of the world? I’m sure it has for you, and it definitely has for me, the most recent time being this past Sunday when I happened to be on ANGEL and decided to check what I got on my math midterm.

The things is, when you’re used to doing well academically, doing so poorly on something is kind of incomprehensible. I sat in the HUB and stared at my screen for a while, refreshing the page hoping for some kind of mistake. When I realized that the red bar was there to stay, my mind  went blank. And when I got back to my room, I got into bed with all of my clothes on, pulled the covers over me, and just lay there. My friend came in, looked at me, and just asked me what flavor ice cream I wanted. (Answer: chocolate therapy).

I lay in bed for the rest of the day blasting Fall Out Boy, crying and laughing at the same time, and I fell asleep watching Grey’s Anatomy without changing into my pajamas. But between then and now, I’ve learned a few things: 

1) Failure is normal. Everyone experiences it at some point in their lives.

2) The only thing you can do is pick yourself up and move on. It does no good to dwell on the fact that you did poorly on something, and instead focus your energies on doing better next time.

My friend's tattoo.

3) The photo above is a tattoo of the geometric symbol for water. As lame as it sounds, it’s a reminder to go with the flow, but more importantly, that things don’t matter in the long run nearly as much as we think they do when we’re experiencing them in the moment. It’s a reminder that the future is out there and it does no good to dwell on the past. That includes failure.

So the next day when I got out of bed, instead of re-evaluating all of my life decisions and reconsidering my choice of major, I set goals. You learn from failure. Because if you fail, you’re doing something, and it’s a chance to try again.

Really, life is all about perspective. How you see failure is how you will go about your life, so why not see it as a second chance. I want to prove to myself that I am better than this one grade, this one failure, and that next time I come face to face with that 10 page beast that goes by the name of “Math Exam 2”, I will be ready.

So if you ever experience failure, it’s okay to be sad, that’s only natural. So lay in bed all day, eat great ice cream, and jam out to your favorite band. But when the sun comes up the next morning, remember that it’s a new day. New opportunities to be successful await you, so don’t let that one failure hold you back. 

Photo courtesy of Genius Quotes