Failure is the greatest teacher. I remember as a kid being obsessed with Batman Begins. Watching the conversation between Alfred and Bruce always on repeat, “Why do we fall sir?”. Who doesn’t love the Christian Bale batman era. The legendary Heath Ledger as the joker, in the gloomy Dark Knight series. That piece of exquisite cinema has so many lessons, but the most profound one is “Why do we fall sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up”.

Funnily enough, when I was young I related this quote to schoolwork or sports. As I got older, it just hits even more different. Failure tests your resolve and character, and setbacks either make or break you. Every time I’ve failed, looking back on my academic and athletic come up, failure was always a consequence. Yes, sometimes financial struggles and losing your job can blind side you and might not be entirely your doing. But if you believe in cause and effect, there’s some truth to failure being indicative of something missing. It is a sign to refine your approach and improve.

I used to victimise myself a lot when I failed, especially throughout university. Blaming my teachers, blaming work, blaming my shit box car, but honestly, I was just lazy and had bad habits. You must focus on what you can control and just absolutely dead what you cannot control. I can control my study habits, my sleeping pattern, my discipline. I cannot control my teacher, the exam questions, my timetable etc. And to be honest, I cannot even remember what I used to stress about back then. Stress is literally just worrying about things that don’t exist most the time. Stress is worrying about a future that exists only within the chambers of your head. The same way depression is overly contemplating on the past. Do me a favour and write down what is bothering you mentally right now. And cross out what you cannot control and watch how quickly majority of your stresses dissipate into nothingness.

Our mind is a powerful tool in constructing imaginary obstacles. We as human beings love to be mad at something, or shift blame. Okay fair enough your company wants to cut costs, you get swept in the wave of redundancies. Life isn’t over though, use it as a lesson, recover, improve and go again. Its uncomfortable but that’s the fun part, learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable. And enjoy the process. I don’t want to read the biography of someone who had an easy life. Boring. Like cool man you had a beautiful life, and it went well, and you died with your grandchildren around your bed with you. Amazing, the end.

No thanks. Give me a life of the kid who got held back in school, who overcame bullying, who failed multiple times every time he strived for something. The one whose career is riddled with setbacks and injuries. The champion who lost so much that he almost quit, but he gave it one more day. The boxer who rose to champion after a series of losses and a career riddled with injury. The footballer who lost his father as a teen but kept his dream alive despite his lows. The father who lost his job and worked 12 hours a day for years to feed his family. That’s a story I want to read all day long, and I will re-read it too, and extract lessons and quotes and pass them down onto the next generations. Failure is character development in its purest form. Life has its way of preparing you for what it has prepared for you. Stop being a bitch, enjoy the journey.

All the best

Houssam