Don’t Cry If You Don’t Try — Cry Only After You Tried

My life can be described in one sentence: don’t cry if you don’t try; it’s better to cry after you tried. This belief is not something I read in a book or heard from a motivational speaker. It is something I learned by living, by taking risks, by gambling with my own comfort, fear, and uncertainty. My life is not perfect, and my path is not guaranteed to lead to success, but one thing I know for sure is that I don’t want to grow old with regret.

Life itself feels like a gamble. You never really know if the choices you make will lead to success or failure. Sometimes you give everything you have and still lose. Sometimes you barely expect anything, and life surprises you. That uncertainty scares many people, and because of that fear, they choose safety. They choose routine. They choose not to try. But for me, that kind of life is more painful than failure. I don’t want to wake up one day and realize that I lost my opportunity to challenge myself just because I was afraid.

I would rather cry after I fail than cry because I never tried. Crying after failure means I trusted myself at least once. It means I believed that I was capable of something more. It means I stepped forward instead of standing still. Failure hurts, but regret hurts deeper and lasts longer. Failure teaches you lessons; regret only reminds you of what you didn’t do.

There is no guarantee in life except dreams. Success is not promised to anyone. Hard work does not always bring immediate results, and talent alone is never enough. But dreams are powerful. They give direction. They give meaning to struggle. Even if a dream doesn’t come true the way you imagined, the journey toward it changes you. You learn, you experience, and you become smarter than yesterday. That growth itself is a kind of success.

Many people wait for the “right chance,” but chances don’t look for you. Your timing will not knock on your door and ask if you are ready. You have to search for it. You have to move, explore, fail, adjust, and move again. If you keep looking down because you’re afraid of falling, you will miss the blue sky above you. And if you miss the sky, you will also miss the sun that could shine on you. Opportunity often appears when you least expect it, but only if you are looking forward instead of hiding.

Tomorrow is unpredictable. That’s the truth no one can escape. You don’t know what will happen next. Tomorrow, you could get hit by a car, or tomorrow, you could get the chance that changes your life. Because of that uncertainty, giving up makes no sense. If life is fragile and short, then why waste it living in fear? Why not take risks, try new paths, and see what you’re capable of?

I don’t measure my life only by outcomes. Winning or losing is not the most important thing. What matters is that I lived honestly with myself. I tried. I took chances. I trusted my instincts even when others doubted me. Each failure made me stronger, wiser, and more aware. Each attempt reminded me that I am alive.

This is my life philosophy. I may succeed, or I may fail. I may fall many times. But when I look back, I want to see courage instead of hesitation. I want to remember effort instead of excuses. If I cry, let it be after I tried my best — not because I was too afraid to begin.

No one is perfect. Life is beautiful. Be yourself.

Akima