Hi- I'm not sure why, but I don't get it "Don't be food"...

Do you mean, don't be eaten up, or devoured, by others, or life?

While I feel really stupid asking for clarification, I think your comment likely has great importance, that I seem to be missing.

I think of food as a good thing, not bad=Nourishment that gives us strength to conquer the world.

(Btw, I am intelligent, not gifted, but determined to understand, what others are saying/thinking/feeling.
As for failure, never existed in my mind as a possibility, until a few years ago, now it's an expectation, and successes, big or little, are a welcome, unexpected surprises...sad but true.
Expecting failure, is something, I think can sometimes happen to normally confident people, when they are overwhelmed or have been exposed to too many traumas or horrific events during a brief period of time. IDK).