Failure is Inevitable, Succumbing to It is Not

4/18/2025

By Mathieu R., Grade 11

Today I’d like to speak with you about an inevitable aspect of our lives: failure. Each and every single person in this school has their very own dreams and aspirations. Some may want to get into a certain school. Some may strive to excel in sports. Some may simply wish to be the best version of themselves. We are all motivated to attain our goals and to surpass our limits in some way shape or form.

However, to make the assumption that achieving our goals is an inevitable occurrence is naïve and oftentimes delusional. Failure, and the crushing emotional burdens that it brings will reach us all in time.

Odds are many of you here have dealt with and been affected by failing to achieve a goal you or others have put upon you. This failure may have made you feel ashamed or embarrassed or a plethora of other emotions. Failure never leads to feeling good about yourself.

Through the hardships and turmoils that failure brings, it is crucial that you remember one simple thing. It is normal to fail. No one is perfect no matter how they may appear to be. We all have our own shortcomings in all aspects of life that prevent us from achieving our goals.

Although it is easy to feel as though you are defined by your shortcomings and failures, you are not. Despite what you may think, people are not defined by failures and imperfections. Rather we are defined by our morality and character. Not by how we fail, but by how we live with that failure and overcome the obstacles it may bring.

I am not here to tell you how to overcome the feelings failure might bring, only to tell you that you will fail and you will feel all sorts of things but it is normal.

I’d like to leave you off with a quote from Steve Jobs: “Almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”