By: Bassal Tariq
Failure has sadly become a taboo in our society. Especially, in our country, suicides and mental health were never taken seriously. We don’t teach our kids how to deal with failures instead we keep pressuring and expecting them to be the best. Securing good grades instead of having great abilities is the criteria of securing a better future in Pakistan.
In a very short period of time, many suicide cases of students have been reported, who thought it would be easier to take their life instead of finding solutions to their failures. We hear these news and start commenting about how stupid those kids were but what we don’t think is that what made them choose that.
Recently, a boy’s body was found dead in a river who took his life because he was unable to get good grades and thought he was a disappointment to his family. SDGs Youth Squad for Progressive Pakistan took an initiative and started raising awareness among people about how to embrace their failures and grow through them. This was a 6-day campaign in which students shared their failures and how they accepted it and now are becoming a better and a happy person. Teachers and Parents also showed their solidarity and shared stories of their kids who couldn’t succeed in a certain field yet they are proud of them and supported them because a single piece of paper or grades can’t decide their future or abilities. This campaign was nationally recognized and appreciated by many people and was also featured on national television programs. A session was also launched for the people who fear failure at NUML, Islamabad to raise awareness that one must be supported instead of being discouraged when he faces failure.
This campaign played a great role for the targeted community who were pressurized by these failures as it somehow helped them to accept their failure as failure is not an end. It gave them hope that they are not the only ones going through a tough time, and now they have to work hard to achieve success too. More importantly, it also made the society realize how our words can effect a person’s mind and abilities. And nothing is better than knowing that your family supports you no matter how hard the time gets. It gives him the encouragement to perform better and prove people that he can do it.
Even before a kid starts going to school, the parents tell their kids to secure the top position, and when they start school their teachers always tell them that the one who secures the top position is the only good student. The pressure exerted by the parents, teacher and the society never lets a kid accept his failure instead makes him think that he is useless. I remember even I grew up hearing that there are only 3 positions and kids who secure those are the ones who’ll be achieving milestones in their life. Parents are always ready to take credit for their kid’s success but at the same time when the kid is unable to meet their expectations they declare him as a shame to the family instead of supporting him and telling him how to deal with his failures.
We look at so many famous people who achieved so much in life. They failed in start too it’s just that we are not exposed to it sometimes. Nobody is perfect, everybody makes mistakes. Failure is not the end but the start of new learnings and experiences. It has been proved that after failing you get a better view of life. Dealing with failure is surely one of the difficult things to do but making failures our strengths surely opens new gates for us. Not being able to accept the failure is also one of the reason of mental health issues.
We miss so many opportunities in the fear of failing. We always need to remember that there is always light after the dark no matter how long the darkness stays, light will shine and well get successful one day. So, it’s OKAY to fail, we just need to embrace it and work with more motivation.