…he ended up having a blue day on his birthday. The day after, he said to Shaila “I wish my birthday was a day earlier”. Shaila cleverly responded “the only change would have been that you would have the same wish yesterday”.

In tough circumstances, we all have this unbelievable aptitude to bring in factors we can’t control, to punt responsibility. We do that to ease down the impact of agony and letdown that follows failure. Personal responsibility is a harsh mistress. It pleases you and feeds your ego during victorious times, and it comes back to belittle you when you’re routed.

During tough times there is a rush of negative feelings. All those chemicals kick in to your brain, and get you to a place where you can see nothing but the worst. But luckily, every feeling with a negative connotation maps to another positive feeling. For instance, selfishness maps to empathy, regret maps to hope, and jealousy maps to generosity. The only hidden element that’s the hardest part to bear, is time.

True, we live in a culture that makes it easier to assign moral status to victims of failure. Yet, one lets himself down if he doesn’t show up, or dismisses his part in this splendorous spectacle we call life.