I write this as Paris Fashion Week is about to begin. The most successful models in the world will be walking those runways. But failure is not only common; it can also wreak havoc on body and soul. An aspiring W.N.B.A. player may fall short of her dreams, but it won’t be because her face is almost imperceptibly asymmetrical or she didn’t fit into a uniform that was sized for a 12-year-old. Her disappointment won’t be because the league already had its allotment of redheads. Or because it already had a Black girl and there’s only room for one brown-skinned girl at a time.