CREDIT: DONTSTEPINTHEPOOP.COM

Success is a lousy teacher; it seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose. Still, in our success-driven society, we are obsessively attached to our desired result. What we forget is far from being a sign of inferiority, failure and defeat are life's greatest teachers. Therefore, it is equally important to feel and learn from negative emotions as it is to revel in positive ones.

It is quite reassuring to hear that courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to function despite fear. Even the most courageous people are scared, but ultimately, they face and conquer fear. A lot of successful people leverage fear in the direction of success. Though most of the people from business are well prepared, there is always this gnawing fear about what if things don't work out according to plan. This makes them forecast issues, anticipate the worst and come up with a contingency plan in the event of any crisis. Also, even the greatest speakers dread taking those steps up to the podium to deliver a speech. But, sooner they get close to the stage, the lesser they fear. When they get ready to start, some kind of positive energy re-energizes them and they feel the adrenaline effect. Very rarely, if they never felt that dread, their performance would have been amiss.

There are people who believe positive thinking serves as an antidote for the fear of failure. What I believe is that the fear of failure is not neutralized, but only suppressed by positive thinking. Unfortunately, our culture places an over-riding bias toward positive thinking. A positively thinking mind is good but not to the point of pathological where we obfuscate our issues and slip into a denial mode. Overwhelming positivity with disregard to proper planning and caution is like day-dreaming or setting yourself to disappointment. Some of the most notable examples would be the subprime crisis and the global financial meltdown.

If you wish to fully appreciate life, you need to acknowledge a whole range of emotions. Experiencing sadness becomes as necessary as happiness; fear as essential as courage; to grieve is as critical as it is to celebrate and to cry is needed as much as to laugh. Just as positive emotions brighten our spirits, negative emotions too are meaningful and serve a purpose.

The excruciating pain that you go through after your relationship breaks detoxifies your spirit. The aftermath grounds you, regains the pieces of your dormant self and helps you recognize the feelings of your power. You turn into an evolved person with a lot of practical wisdom. Steve Jobs said his biggest success was learning from failure. Thomas Edison attempted 8,000 different experiments before inventing the electric lightbulb. He wasn't discouraged by those 8,000 failures but learned what doesn't work. Setbacks encourage us to look for something greater and deeper in life and a sense of gratitude for what we have increases. There is a shift in perspective and greater clarity.

In the current post-recession economy, employers are no longer reluctant to embrace failure. Many companies are increasingly becoming open to hiring those who possess both success and failure in their track record. Those who have been in the trenches and survived battle are believed to be having a good head on their shoulders. As such people can acclimatize to the rough and tumble in life, they display exceptional experience.

The basic human emotions classified by Dr. Paul Ekman, who is a pioneer in the study of emotions, are happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust and surprise. You can see that most of the emotions classified are negative. We feel more intensity in negative emotions than in positive. The tumult and the churning that negative emotions cause is central to our personal growth. Your soul gets impacted the most and feels the pinch when you experience fear, humiliation or agony. A chaotic mind is as important as a meditative one in the evolutionary process.

The most important thing is to be in charge of your own emotions and have the ability to control them. However, you need not regret or be guilty of failure or any other negative event happened in your life. You should harness the power of negative emotions and channelize it into the right direction.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.