Recent reports in Nigeria suggests that suicide is on the increase amongst Nigerians. On the 3rd of February, 2025, a US based Nigerian Doctor shot himself over financial failure. On the 15th of January, 2025, a mother of one killed self over marital failure. On this score, the trajectory of our country seems to be moving towards the despair of failure and the crisis of meaninglessness has potentially been leasing to suicidal ideation.

Now, one of the most difficult pieces of advice to give anyone is to tell him/her failures are fine, and that sometimes they are better than successes. Yet, accepting it is the easiest way to reaching out for success. Failure seems to be a universal experience, but in a place like Nigeria, where societal pressures to succeed are often intense, it is often viewed through the lens of stigma.

Unfortunately, this view has had profound implications in Nigeria for mental health, personal development and economic trajectory. Maybe we just should begin to reframe our psychology of failure from being a radical opposite of success to being a stepping stone to success. The question has always been: Why should I keep trying again? Our minds have been shaped overtime to think that “I didn’t do anything wrong and yet I failed. It must mean that I can never succeed at this thing.” The impact of the “first failure” has eaten deep into our fibres that if an individual didn’t do anything wrong the first attempt and still failed, then success in that particular thing is impossible.

Sadly, no sooner had this thought lingered than we have cases of depression, suicide, quitting landmark projects, leaving the priesthood or religious life, giving up the Christian struggles of holiness, indulging in all sorts of societal crimes etc. According to Nigerian national statistics, the number of suicides is rising as people continue to hang or burn themselves, jump off bridges into lagoons, or consume deadly poisons like “Sniper.” Nigeria has suffered this greatly, and is still suffering it – hence, the need to recalibrate our psychology of failure. A counter effect to this peril is the “try again syndrome.”

Whether we like it or not, all of us are beneficiaries of “trying again.” In fact, we would not be where we are today; were it not that we tried again at some points in our lives. Far from taking things for granted, there definitely come such moments in the ups and downs of life, where man loses all, even the smallest grain of hope. The society pierces his eardrums saying “you have to give it all up.”

Yet, at the same time we have to pay here; attention to hope, which somehow, somewhere whispers “try again.” In a subtle tone of reflection, remember the apostles in the gospel reading of this Sunday (Luke 5:1-11) had failed and failed and failed… till dusk.

While the psychology of failure as opposite of success urged them to give it all up (getting out of their boats and washing their nets) Jesus recalibrated their psychology into “trying again” – not just an empty “trying again” but a “trying again” with faith this time. They needed that voice of hope, and, perhaps, we know the rest of the story – they were successful beyond imagination.

The point is straightforward here: The greatest glory of man is not in never failing, but in rising every time he falls. What is that thing that is infinitely worse than failure if not never trying again? Trying again makes us realize our mistakes; the little and big things we went wrong with – we correct each of them one by one, trying again and again and again… And eventually we develop such a method that acts as catalyst for success.

Malcolm Forbes continues to remind us that “failure is success, if we learn from it.” It is not about what people think about us when we fail! It is about our individual lives! Have you failed? Are you failing? It is not worth taking your life over. It is not worth harming your mental peace! It is only worth you trying again. Try again!