“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.” - Paulo Coelho

 That is officially one of my favorite quotations. According to what I've read on multiple tumblr posts, John Green said that most of our favorite quotes say more about us that the person we're quoting. And it's true. I've been pushed around by fate too many times. I've gone through a faux pas involving depression, and I once thought of my life as the worst one there is. But ever since I woke up from that nonsense, I started to make a move towards the pursuit of optimism. Of course, I won't be the most optimistic person in a snap, but I'm gradually going there.

Pessimism doesn't just degrade my self-esteem, but it also pulls me towards wrong choices and utter impulsiveness. I became reckless, disregarding school work and concentrating on how awful my life is. But this time, I've changed, or I sure hope so. Every time something unlucky happens to me, instead of instinctively sulking about it, I contemplate on why it happened. And that's a good thing. It's being optimistic, i think. lol.

Thing is, being optimistic helps me make most of my life. In the past, I always put myself in the worst case scenario.... Well, to be honest, i still do that. But truth is, I actually think that's the only pessimistic act that's helpful. Imagining the worst outcome prepares you for it. When it happens, you wouldn't be shocked and sad and hurt or mad, but you'd be totally considerate and ready since you already pictured it. But aside from that, pessimism wouldn't really take me anywhere.

So, all the failures I've experienced are only challenges. They are only stepping stones towards becoming a totally new and improved person. Failures are the stairway to success. And I wouldn't mind experiencing one or two failures in the future, with the hope and knowledge that everything is going to fall into place.