D,
I need to tell you about failure. The fear of this naturally occurring phenomenon has been the bane to joy for many a human mind. It is the thing we are meant to tell you to avoid. This is, of course, a stupid plan. You will try to avoid it, but you will fail. Life is a series of failures interrupted by a spurt of pyrrhic victories in-between.
This does not mean that life is failure. I know it sounds like it. It means that our definitions of failure are wrong. Failure, in the real sense, is a lifelong trajectory and not isolated events or not getting what you want. Failure is about character not economics. It is about sportsmanship not about trophies and awards. It is about the meaning of life not making meaning out of mountaintops created in your mind.
Of course, every generation will tell you this: this time it will be different. It will not be. The world has been the way it is from the dawn of our time. The light has been this bright and overwhelming since it was called out from the dark. Eternity has been stable and unflinching forever. Your life is an eternal thing. It is bigger than failure. It is more serious than fleeting success. But any isolated stab at winning is futile. Your life as a whole, crafted in character and doing what is right, is already a success.