I have never been a game person. Back in school, I was constantly in the habit of belittling my friends who spent their time playing car racing games, Temple Run, or Candy Crush. This was not because I hated games, but because I was never nearly good at them. Try as I may, I only lasted a few seconds on the games that tested speed and I could barely move past one stage to another in the ones that tested accuracy or coordination. So, I downloaded games, made a few attempts, and deleted them almost immediately.
Far beyond gaming, the first time I froze on stage during a debate competition, marked the end of my debating ‘career’. The one time I failed an inter-school competition, marked the end of that for me. The trend was clear — failure propelled me to do nothing else but quit. On the contrary, the list of the world’s greatest successes, doubles as that of the world’s greatest failures. From Bill Gates, to Thomas Edison and even Oprah Winfrey; we have all come to learn and understand that failure has many bus-stops on the path to true success. However, persevering sounds good only on paper.
I mean, who is really going to devote an entire lifetime to push just one goal? What if it never works? Why do you have to keep breaking your spirit over and again when there are clear alternatives available? Well, nothing good ever came easy. In life, there are winners and there are quitters. If you consistently choose flight over fight, you would wake up one day, old and regretful. What you would have at your disposal are just a series of things you could have succeeded at. Maybe you just might have been able to achieve that goal. Maybe it could have made you one heck of a billionaire. You would, on looking back, dread that one moment where you settled for mediocrity. If there is still a possibility of success, even if it so vague or so minute, still push.
It’s game over now, but as long as there is still a ‘new game’ button, the game is really not over.
Originally published at medium.com