Are school back-benchers more successful in life?
Maybe! Because they know how to handle failures, and accept rejections.
Nobody likes failing in life, of course!
And yet, most of us fail, at some point or the other.
While most of us accept the fact that it is not always possible to win, it is difficult for certain people to do that.
Ever wondered who those people are?
People who’ve never tasted failure, right since playschool.
While parents take great pride in flaunting that their child always stands first in his class, they never think about the impact that it can have on his mind.
Never failing in school can either make a child too confident about himself, or put him under a lot of pressure (of always being the best).
And both these can prove to be disastrous in the long run.
A topper in my school is not equipped enough to handle the lows in life.
Not his fault. Because he never went through that in the first place.
Somebody’s rightly said, you learn through experience.
And so it’s important to go through failure, to learn how to cope up with that.
And so as parents, we should stop teaching them to learn from 'our' mistakes.
Let the kids make their own mistakes, and learn from them.
Right since childhood, we are taught to be the best. And there's nothing wrong in it.
But at the same time, nobody teaches us that life outside school is so different.
Life is not about absolute success or failure, it’s more about survival - if you know how to take a step back and review the obstacle as an opportunity, you survive, and hence you win!
And this is best learnt since childhood.
Because you are least concerned about the people around - about their expectations or thoughts or judgement.
Nothing bothers you much - neither humiliation nor embarrassment.
Ever wondered why the back-benchers in school are more successful in life?
Because they know how to digest failure, and accept rejections.
They have zero expectations from themselves, and even the people around them have none from them.
And so even a small achievement becomes an enormous feat!
They are probably used to being called names since an early age, so they aren't much bothered with it.
So even if they fail, they know what people around them will say or do, nothing new for them.
When you are used to being at the rock bottom, even climbing the first step seems an accomplishment.
But if you are used to being at the top, you'll be disappointed even if you've reached halfway.
It's very easy to say that life is full of ups and downs, when you yourself are sitting at the top of the ladder.
And surprisingly, even if you say this while you are at the rock bottom, there'll be no one to listen to you.
Why? Because our society believes in listening to successful minds.
Only when you reach the top, would people be interested in hearing how it felt to be at the bottom.
Nobody wants to befriend a failure.
But everybody wants the company of someone who made it from rags to riches, but only after they're rich!
And that's precisely why parents teach their kids to be successful, right from school.
Because even there, the kids are taught to pick only toppers as friends, isn't it?
We probably were never taught that hard work and perseverance is what should be admired in people, no matter whether they are toppers or back-benchers.
Because that’s what can make you big in life.
Does it mean we shouldn't top in schools or colleges?
Of course we can, and we should.
As important as learning how to handle failure, even more important is to learn to digest success.
Because too much success can make you reckless and presumptuous.
But just because you stand first in school, doesn't mean you'll win in life as well, and that's what we've to learn.
And if you aren't in the top ten amongst your peers, doesn't mean you are a failure.
Rather than scolding and punishing ourselves for not being good at everything, let’s focus on moulding and equipping our minds to handle failures and rejections - how to overcome these and stand tall.
It's never too late to learn ourselves, and never too early to teach our kids!
