“Our business in life is not to succeed but to continue to fail in good spirits.” Robert Louis Stevenson

Have you ever been so afraid of failing at something that you decided not to try it at all? Or have you ever heard the quote, “Our business in life is not to succeed but to continue to fail in good spirits.” by Robert Louis Stevenson. In this topic, I am telling the story of my failure and what lessons I learned from it.

Last year, when I was 17 years old, I was devastated and unhappy when I found out that I had failed. To tell you the truth, this is the first time I have failed at something, especially in school. My place in the class and the level was changed. In our mid-year exams, I was the top student in the class and the level. But when it came to our final exams, I failed and I didn’t reach first in the class or the level, not even third place.

But that didn’t make me stop trying my best because I knew that there was another exam ahead of us which was the National Examinations (SSC). But guess what – I passed the exam and it made me realize that failure occurs every day in school, jobs, housework and within families. Failure is also the best opportunity to begin again.

Naturally, I am not telling you to fail, just for the purpose of failing. Instead, I am saying do not be afraid to fail because failures do not define who you are or what you are capable of.

Failure is only a test, a test of your fortitude, perseverance and hard work. We are all human beings and that means we enter this world with a list of opportunities for growth and personal development. Together, we are on this collective journey to better ourselves and the world around us. But in order to do so, we need to fail. It’s important to learn from failure because it brings us one step closer to reaching success. I know that success is good but failure doesn’t mean your idea wasn’t valid or that your dream isn’t good enough. Failure simply means that there is something to be learned or another direction to be taken.

For many young people like me, it is easy to simply give up when things don’t work out. But if there is one thing you shouldn’t do, it is just that. Do not give up because the reality is you are going to fail a lot. So I have learnt a lesson from the time I failed last year which is. “Failure doesn’t define me.”

I learnt that in order to succeed, I need to fail. And I learned that it’s possible to get better at something even after you have failed. Failure helps me learn and understand my mistakes, so that I can correct them and get one step closer to success. Without failing, there can be no true success. We must keep trying until we succeed. According to my own story, I learnt that you must not let successes get to your heads and also you must not let failure consume your heart. Know that sometimes, actually most times, things don’t go as planned and that is perfectly fine.

It’s okay to fail because failure is a part of learning and failure is not final.

Remember without failure, there is no achievement. Failure leads to success because it will get rid of your fears, and redirect your path.

Another lesson I learnt from failing is that the more you fail, the more you learn. It means that failure does not mean you won’t succeed. Because without failure, you will not learn to succeed. So this means that failure can lead us to success.

So, it reminds me of a quote by Robert Louis Stevenson. “Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.”

Remember don’t quit when you fail but continue to fail until you succeed.

Folaiula Faaoso is a Year 13 student at Alofi – o Taoa College. This literary piece was placed second in the Year 13 English category of the Samoa Observer Short Story Competition.