I am a huge fan of failure. I believe that failure is one of the most beautiful things life has to offer, and while it can also be one of the suckiest, it is brutally necessary and eye-opening. Some of the hugest life lessons come out of mistakes, upsets, and downfalls. Personally, I have become a new person because of the mistakes I have made, and I couldn’t have asked for life to go any differently (so far).

Imagine a life where everything went perfectly. A life where you aced every test, did everything perfectly on the first try, could walk into an audition room with no doubts you’d be cast, and never have to deal with something not going your way.

Yeah, on the surface, that seems fantastic. But dig a little deeper and it becomes clear that that isn’t the way life is supposed to be lived. We weren’t made to be handed every opportunity and never have to see tribulations and bumps along the road. My biggest failures seem to occur with dance, and not receiving a part I wanted, or getting into a program I was dying to attend.

And yeah, I’ll admit, I took some of those failures pretty hard. I went for some time being upset and unhappy with the results, and decided to only see the lows of the situation. However, looking back on all these things, I can only see highs. After these failures, I pushed myself to new extremes to become better and focus all my attention on the parts of me that needed work. I was able to take a step into the real world, and understand what it’s like for something not to go my way. I became more determined, adamant, and intent on my goals as a person, and this translated into everything I pursued after.

Each failure has shaped me in a different way, and I truly believe that each of these times are a puzzle piece that one day will be complete and fit together into one perfectly sculpted figure that is the true and honest me.

I don’t usually enjoy change, but being able to change myself into the person I intend to become is something I will gladly pursue. Failures have also made me much more willing to try new things and accept mistakes. My biggest fear in life is no longer messing up. My biggest fear is not being able to forgive myself, move on, and grow from a mistake or failure I create. Learning from your mistakes certainly isn’t always easy, but it’s extremely simple to see a failure as an obstacle thrown into your life just to anger you and create problems. I hope one day we can all see our failures as positives, but for now, I’ll just keep doing my best.