Two Sides to a Coin

“One of the most interesting parts of writing is that you can think about it all of the time. Writers get their ideas all day and all night long, not just when they sit at their writing tables. No one will see your thoughts, but inside you head you can always wonder and ponder. “Hmmm…that’s strange.” Or, “I might write about that later.” When you write, you notice things that other people do not. Artists and scientists do this too. To create, one must observe”

– Edgardo H. Pangilinan

Earlier today in the farm, I was watching a TV series titled A Perfect Life. A particular scene caught my attention. The female was a painter who seemed to enjoy painting, and it seemed like she was basically doing it as a hobby. But as a adult, she has responsibilities and bills to pay, she needs money. So, she is compelled to exhibit her paintings and hopefully get a buyer or maybe become a popular painter.

The problem with her paintings was that she paints erotic images and I suppose that isn’t exactly palatable for most of society. This was probably the reason her exhibition of the paintings was a total failure, as not even one person looked at them more than once. Perhaps it was because she isn’t a popular painter, but the thing about a painting is that it makes the painter famous. It is not the painter that makes the painting famous.

In the scene that caught my attention, she was talking about how we have been brainwashed to think that if we want something, we’ll get it. And when we end up putting in the work and things don’t turn out how we expected, we end up being disappointed and demoralised. Sometimes, it makes us feel like we’re losers and we could end up being depressed for a while. I had written an article Truisms That Aren’t True in the past, and one of the truisms I talked about is the fallacious belief that hard work always pays.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that you shouldn’t be hard working or quit after trying for the first time and it doesn’t work out. NO! Don’t do that, after all, quitters aren’t winners, and winners aren’t quitters. What I am saying is that even if you want to achieve something with every fibre of your being, and you even though you have really worked hard to ensure something is a success, always prepare your self for the worse. And be ready to get back up and try again.

As I watched that scene, I remember a lyrics from a song by Passenger. Because we have been taught to believe that whatever we put our mind to, will succeed, we have been conditioned to only be prepared for one outcome. When the only outcome we are prepared for does not come to fruition, we are left devastated, and unable to cope with the pain or feeling that comes with not being successful.

I was listening to a man talk about his experience days ago. He said that among his mates that they learnt together, he had the toughest when they started practicing. He was the only one among his 5 mates that wasn’t a success in the first couple of years, but as he was failing over and over, he was gaining experience. He talked about how his passion for what he had learnt was the major reason he didn’t quit, and even though he wasn’t making any profit at that time, he was still determined. He specifically emphasised how being patient and not quitting has made him the man he is now, and even his mates that were successful before him reach out to him about what to do when they are going through the challenges he’d already experienced before.

CONCLUSION

My message here is to be prepared for any outcome. As that would make the blow easier to handle should it be a negative one. Whatever plan you make, always be prepared for any eventuality. That is not to say you shouldn’t be optimistic, but if things don’t turn out good, it doesn’t mean you’re a loser, don’t quit! Keep trying and one day you’ll see that all that failure have prepared you for success.

Thank You For Reading 🖤🖤