{
  "id": 12683962,
  "title": "The scars on the drum: A Nunyãdume reflection on failure, courage and the audacity to try",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/the-scars-on-the-drum-a-nunyadume-reflection-on-failure-courage-and",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-07T18:25:49.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
    "slug": "myjoyonline-ghana",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/the-scars-on-the-drum-a-nunyadume-reflection-on-failure-courage-and-the-audacity-to-try/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In Nunyãdume, there exists a timeless lesson that the young often grasp only after experiencing the passage of time. Failure, they learn, is not an identity but an event that can serve as a teacher. As years pass, the wisdom of hindsight reveals that some dreams had to break, some journeys had to end, and some doors had to close before we could understand life's direction. The elders remind us that the drum that has never been beaten may possess flawless skin, but it has never summoned a village. Therefore, we must be cautious in labeling experiences as failures while the story is still unfolding. The harvest cannot be secured without taking risks, and greatness is forged through courage and audacity rather than by avoiding challenges. Many global leaders, such as Mandela, Nkrumah, and Kofi Annan, have faced significant failures but did not let them define them, instead using them as lessons. In Africa, the farmer understands this concept, planting seeds without guaranteeing their success, as some may be eaten by birds, washed away by rain, encounter poor soil, or sprout and perish. However, the farmer persists because a failed seed does not equate to a failed farmer. Life is a game where failure is often an integral part of learning how to win. A child learning to walk does not deem walking as not their calling after falling, crying, and rising again. Yet when adults face setbacks while building a business, pursuing education, leading institutions, raising families, developing inventions, or rebuilding lives, falling is perceived as evidence that they were never meant to succeed. Failure is simply knowledge arriving painfully, informing us of what did not work, what paths to avoid, or when to change direction. It does not necessarily mean \"I am a failure.\" The difference lies in recognizing that \"I failed at something\" is an event, while \"I am a failure\" condemns a human being. We should not confuse the two. History often edits out the failures of successful individuals, showcasing only their triumphs. We admire them from the mansion's height but disregard the nights spent on the floor, the failed examinations, the businesses that collapsed, or the elections and opportunities lost. Yet, Nunyãdume recognizes that the smoothness of a pestle comes from repeated encounters with a mortar, and friction is an essential part of the making. Mistakes demonstrate that we are alive, attempting things that genuinely matter. Therefore, the objective should not be to never fail but to never waste a failure. If we fall, we must collect the lesson before we rise, lest we have to fall in the same place again. This wisdom of Nunyãdume guides us in embracing failure as a necessary step towards growth and success.",
  "summary": "The young person may see a failure as the end of the road because there are not yet enough travelled roads behind him to know how often yesterday’s disappointment becomes tomorrow’s turning point. With the passage of years comes the wisdom of hindsight, the discovery that some doors had to close, some journeys had to fail, and some dreams had to break before we could understand where life was…",
  "key_points": [
    "Failure is a teacher, not an identity, in Nunyãdume culture",
    "Drum with flawless skin has never summoned a village",
    "Global leaders like Mandela faced failures but didn't let them define them"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}