Failure, the source of life’s greatest lessons.

In the postmodern era, many people are afflicted with Atychiphobia that they are easily shattered in the face of adversities. Failures in the examination can make students and their parents fall miserably into the nadir of despair. There are also many schools that screen studious and non-studious students and permit the studious ones to appear for Board Examinations. When it is not possible to obtain the desired ranks in the Entrance Examinations, many think that their lives have ended prematurely. In addition, their kith and kin would taunt and disparage them by equating them with those who have excelled in the examinations. There were also isolated events of committing suicide when students failed to secure the expected scores in the examinations. Is this the right perspective to deal with failures?

Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company once remarked, “One who fears failures limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.” You can learn many lessons from failures. Failures will help you understand yourselves, enable you to identify your uncongenial lifestyle, help rectify your unhealthy tendencies, assist you to seek new avenues and give you the strength to forge ahead further. Failures will also help you gather courage and persistence to face challenges of life successfully. When many students achieve success in the examinations, a few fail miserably. Even though these children fail in the examinations, they may have capabilities in other fields. You should learn that nobody is superior or inferior to others.

I shall recount a simple story. Long ago, a tribal chief, Thevan was moving along a verdant forest with two of his companions; a monkey and an elephant. After striding for a long time, they reposed under a tree that was loaded with sweet and delicious fruits. The monkey climbed up the thorny tree and plucked some fruits. All of them ate the fruits and satiated their hunger and fatigue. After a while, they resumed their walk. On the way, the chief thought to himself, “this monkey is far better than the elephant’. After a long journey, they arrived at a trench. It was too wide to jump across. After a while, the elephant dragged in a heavy trunk from elsewhere and put it over the channel and all of them safely crossed over it. It made the old man understand that everyone has their own capabilities which become apparent at the appropriate time only.

Never should you brand your children as incompetent on the simple reason that they have failed in the examinations. The fear of failure makes many children think that there is no purpose in living and end their lives prematurely, before they really know what actually life is. Many of them run away from their home while some get addicted to drugs and alcohol. Many of these children gradually become criminals or mentally deranged and wander about aimlessly, discarding moral and ethical values. In addition, a few of them end up in terrorist groups. Had teachers and parents viewed failures as a stepping-stone and taught the children accordingly, these youngsters would not have gone astray. More than that they would have become promising youths of strong values, capable of helping others cross the chasm of failure successfully. I choose to give a piece of advice to the young students. Instead of fearing failures, scrutinize them closely before making appropriate rectifications and go ahead enthusiastically with an adamant faith in the Almighty God. Remember your life is precious and priceless. You should live for the progress and welfare of your family, society and nation and for the glory of the Lord.

May God give you the composure to crush the setbacks of life underfoot and help you scale the zenith of success!