What does ‘failure’ mean for children of immigrant families and how does it impact our lives?
Part 1.
For many children of immigrant families, ‘failure’ was deemed unacceptable so we worked hard to pursue either external or internal definitions of ‘success.’ We learned to respond with high distress and low tolerance for anything we perceive as a failure: a GPA, mistakes at work, conflicts in our relationships, etc. In the pursuit of ‘success’, we may have forgotten that true humility and compassion can develop with experiences of 'failure.'
What if we learned to stop associating ‘failure’ with loss or a risk to survival?
What if we learned to associate 'failure' with the very human experience of life?
Could this help us learn acceptance & increase compassion for ourselves and others?
What emotions does the word “failure” elicit in you? Do you want to avoid the thoughts completely? In therapy, you can learn to challenge fearful associations, reframe experiences of ‘failure’ and decrease highly distressing emotional responses.
Did this post resonate? Are you looking for a therapeutic space to process these unique experiences in more depth?
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