Prelude Though I was tagged a failure, everyone saw my little reactions as hysterical. The few times I responded to the callousness of people, I was being melodramatic, and when I didnt, I was being myself . . . the fool. I would have expected to be the apple of my dads eye, considering he claimed he loved my mum so much, till he found out she was a cheat, but what was my crime in my mums unfaithfulness? I barely knew her. The only crime I committed for being abused, trampled on, humiliated, almost abandoned, and so on in Oxford Dictionarys strongest negative terms was being my mothers child. I am a failure today because Mrs Funmi Jaxson brought me to life. While a lot of ladies wore designer lipsticks, compact powders, mascaras, amongst so many others as daily make-up, I was forced to permanently be teary-eyed while wearing my snotty nose. Well, I guess I got my own make-up for free. Even my sense of humour could not stop the emotions from flowing excessively while others laughed and I cried for hours, wondering how I missed the jokes. I guess when the joke is on you, its not so funny anyway. I couldnt help but wonder what made a lot of people smile and look content when they looked into the mirror. For me, I saw absolutely nothing. The strongest people in life are those we stand tall despite the hurdles in their lives. Truth is, success doesnt only come with a price; it has determination glued to it; they are intertwined. Failure isnt failing at what you do; its accepting the title failure, wallowing in it, and making it a comfort zone. Turns out that disbelieving in the power of our dreams and failing to pursue them with a passion is the worst form of failure. Failures are often stepping stones to success. Then it becomes our choice to either learn from them and develop ourselves or make choices that will break us further. Imagine life as an adventure we have to stumble fearlessly into with more than a flicker of hope. Most successful people today didnt make it easily. They fell, dusted themselves up, and tried again more than a couple of times. The trick is fixing your gaze on the prize and not the present circumstances. If you know where you are heading, failure wont set you back. Life never promised anyone perfection. It only promised to give us a chance which will eventually allow us to make decisions that will reshape who we are negatively or positively . . . Miss Carim, 2013. Let yesterday be a tool to help shape your today when preparing for tomorrow . . . Miss Carim, 2013.