A Man who dreamt but never lived

what is it about failure that we are so averse to.
poeple are mortally afraid of failure. that means me too.
but why?
i mean ive fucked up alright(so many times that ive lost count)
but other than one really depressing time i havent known failure.
now i dont mean this in the literal sense. as they say u win some u lose some.
i mean it on a deeper level. when i think about the word failure so many images spring to mind. old man dying alone uncared for on a lonely bed. middle aged man frustrated by lifes demands on him. a man laughed at by society.
a man who dreamt but never lived.
i as a person am mortally afraid of this last image.
but does this fear that controls my life have anything to do with future certainity? what i mean is that if i am conscious of this fear does it mean that somehow i might not have to face it?

the one question thats givin me a obsessive compulsive disorder.
man , i think too much!