Learning to Say Good Bye

It's funny now that I see it, that my 13th post is the one I'm writing after my biggest test.
I'm currently on a train, going to my grandma's house to hopefully enjoy my last few days of freedom.
Oh wait, results are yet to come...

How to deal with the exam pressure?
Buddy, if I had known that myself, I wouldn't have spent a better part of my available studying time crying to my mom over FaceTime. [I've mentally resolved myself that it's not going to happen ever again]

But, I have learnt one thing, how to say goodbye.

Goodbye, eleventh standard! (Good Riddance!)
Goodbye, getting full marks in any subject! (Boohoo! Nah, not really)
Goodbye, free days because believe it or not, I am in twelfth now.
La Twelfth, the big year, the year where it's all work and no play (apparently so)...
Goodbye, to all the worries that troubled me this past one year.
The coming year is new, untested and exciting.

It's very difficult to say goodbye to the good things in life.
We get attached to them and when it's time to say bye, we end up getting hurt.
We are all basically creatures of habit.
Testing the unknown simultaneously excites and terrifies us.
And we try our level best to keep things under our control, and when it doesn't happen that way, it depresses us and pushes us to tears that sometimes are just not worth shedding.

This comes after reading so much about this year's really tough CBSE Mathematics paper.
When a person puts in so much work only for it to go waste, it is something completely heartbreaking and when it's your future that's getting the brunt of the impact, it is downright depressing and demotivating.

I can't claim to have had previous experience in these kind of issues.
I'm no expert, I am yet to go through all that emotional trauma (and a small selfish part of me hopes that I never ever go through anything traumatic, ever in my life).

But one thing that I know is really important to go through with life.
Learning to say goodbye.
Learning to say goodbye to all the previous bad experiences.
Learning to say goodbye to few people.
Learning to say goodbye to dreams and aspirations that went bad.
And learning to use that goodbye as a crutch to pull yourself up.

Really, saying goodbye is so many things at the same time.
Confusing, traumatic, tough, easy, complicated, troubling, bad, good, inspiring and a lot more.
But, you will be much better off without the weight of your previous mistakes on your shoulders.
Only, if you get the courage to say good bye.

Throw them out of the window.
Bid them a hearty goodbye.
Look at what to do next.
Get to the next step.

All your mistakes might define you now, but once you've rubbed your slate clean, what you write again is what defines you.
Learn from the mistakes, but don't carry them forward.
Some things are meant to be forgotten and are better when left behind.
Learn to say goodbye.

I know this one is completely not my usual way of writing.
But the amount of suicide comments, etc etc really triggered something in me.

This one is for all those students out there, who feel like life has ended because of a few bad experiences.

This is just a temporary turbulence in your flight.
Don't let it crash your plane.
There are so many things out there in the world.
Your marks don't define you.
And when you've had a really bad day, think of those who could've had worse.

If you would die just for marks, what about all those people in warring countries who fight to live even when their whole country wants them to die?
This isn't the end of the road.
There's still so much to do, to live, to see, to enjoy and appreciate.

I hope you understand this.
Don't let anything and anybody drive you to destroy yourself.
It'll destroy not only you, but the whole spirit of your family, friends and even the country.

I don't know what else to say, I really don't.