Why Struggling And Failing Are Two Different Things

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Grades being the worst of your problems during high school seemed so hard until you find yourself drinking beer alone in your room with a cigarette dangling down your mouth while watching Kings of Restoration, thinking of what to do next, ten years after. It’s hard to actually explain the ‘real world’ to someone brimming with youth and ideals. At 18, you knew you could do great in life because surviving high school was equivalent to surviving life.

Everything goes downhill when you get out of college and receive your first rejection to that dream job or choking in that interview you practiced for. Idealism takes the backseat and survival instincts rise. You take the first job offer you get, whatever job that is, just to get out of your parent’s basement and live like a grown up. Lucky for those who do get what they want but almost everyone doesn’t. It takes a lot of beers and late nights to realize you fucked up. You start dreading work and that you’re just in it for the money.

A lot of people see this as a failure cause it sure does look like you have failed in life, but you haven’t. Feeling shitty about something you do not like is a sign that you, a significant human, is striving for something more meaningful in life. That you do not just settle for what pays the bills and what makes you look like a responsible adult living outside of your parent’s home. Deciding on what to do next is a big scary thought but a lot are willing to dive into it and take the risk just to get out of whatever fucked up situation they are in, even if they are not sure if it’s going to work. Struggling should not be equivalent to failing. Struggling is a state wherein you are taking in whatever shit life throws at you because you are that eager and determined to survive, or reach something you really want. As opposed to failing, where you just accept whatever state you are in and just give up. Living without struggling means that you have accepted the fact that you cannot change the situation you are in even if deep inside it’s not the life you want. Saying that you are okay with how things are instead of trying to reach that place where you can confidently say that you are doing great.

It’s time to stop dwelling on what you don’t like and start doing something to make it better. It’s a hard climb but it will eventually pay off. Sometimes, things really do go wrong but at least you can say that you actually had the guts to do something about it. If things don’t turn out the way you wanted it to be, you will realize that you are in a different place. You are now few steps further than where you started, where you can continue your journey or just do whatever the fuck you want.

featured image – Flickr / SebastianDooris