It all depends on the size of the tournament, I had played in some MTT games where there were more than 10,000 players on-line and if I bubbled I would have probably beaten 9,000 other players at the minimum, So going out on the bubble is nothing to be ashamed about.
I used to feel like a loser when I played Double or Nothing games, going out on the bubble, because I knew I could play better, and should have beaten half of the field, but I stopped playing them for that reason.
Playing well to the best of your ability, is all you can ask of yourself, and bubbling out of a tourney will happen, even to the best players, it is all part of the game, If you can say you bubbled beating more than half the field then in my books you played well and was just unlucky at a crucial point in the game.
I have, on occasions folded pocket Aces because we were so close to the bubble, and two or more players went all-in before me, and I knew if only one of them bust I would make the money, it was a difficult fold but I was right to do so, as the chip leader would have beaten me along with the other players.
So bubbling out of a game is nothing to be ashamed of, and no one should feel like a loser.
That's Poker!
When the fun Stops, STOP!