What is failure?

I was asked to write an essay describing a failure that I've experienced and what I've learned from that, and it got me thinking.
I could come up with PAGES and PAGES of things I've tried to do and not succeeded in- but does that really mean I FAILED?

I mean, looking back at my geometry grades from sophomore year and a couple of 31%'s (I was kinda proud/mortified of how low of a score that was..new record!) you might say "Yes, you idiot, you failed that- see the grade?"
But what is failure?
I may have received an F grade- but I didn't fail in learning something from that bad mark.
So I don't consider that a failure.

Then again, talk to my eye doctor- I can't see the definition of leaves or facial features without my glasses on and he would tell you my eyes have failed to pass many eye exams.
But I didn't fail- my eyes did.
Do we really need eyes anyway? Hellen Keller certainly didn't.
And in fact, many would say that physical blindness (I'm not really blind.. just go with the train of thought) leads to greater sight- insight, that is, and heightened awareness of the world we're in.
So that's not a failure.

Dree 2, Failure 0.

Example 3: Student Council
I've run for exec board positions, class president, etcc and in the last 2 years, out of the 4 positions I ran for (on top of class rep): Junior Class prez, Student council treasurer, senior class prez, Student Body Prez- I didn't get a single one.
FAIL? not a chance.
Because although my efforts didn't grant me my desired result, each of those speed-bumps has taught me something or gone on later to show me a reason why it's a great thing- a success even- that I didn't win those elections. Yes, I come away from each lost election with a bit of a bruised ego and a few tears, but in hindsight I always am able to smile and appreciate God's hand in those losses. (Notice: I say losses, not failures)
Student Body prez, for example.
1.) I ran against the girl I'd beat for 1 exec board position sophomore year but lost to junior year for treasurer. She and I are friends, granted we're always competing with eachother, but still friends and honestly, she has shown a greater capacity for that kind of leadership. She just simply has more time to devote to the positions. I've been getting stressed and anxious about all these college applications, essays, school work, cross country season, family life, etc and if I'd had the added responsibilities of Student Body Prez I probably would have had a mental break down for REALZzZ about the 2nd day of school.
Made it almost 5 weeks now and no breakdown in sight! SUCCESS!
2.) She has a bit of a speech impediment- when she gets nervous, she stutters, and she gets nervous any time she's speaking to a large group, which means that over the announcements twice a day, she stutters. But it's been improving as our school year goes on. Her winning that election has enabled her to work toward conquering her obstacle- and I thank God each day that I didn't win so that she has the chance to do that.
THAT is not a failure at all.

Dree 3, Failure ZIP

Let's look at my cross country highschool record....
The number of times I've passed out in races and had to crawl across finish lines is climbing onto my second hand. That does not mean I failed. I gave everything that I'd had on those days: my body just couldn't keep up with the effort my mind was trying to put out.
When we don't complete races (have to drop, etc) our coach puts "DNF" for Did Not Finish on the split summary sheet. He uses these sheets to calculate our workout times for the following week, track our progress, etcc.
To me, this DNF stands for something more than "Did Not Finish" because to many, that would imply that I failed at that task- but nope! I didn't! HAHA
DNF means "Did Not Fail"
On that day, if I really gave all I had an my body just gave out on me, then that's not a failure.
And from those experiences, I've learned something new every time, so that's not failing to learn.

No one can accuse me of failing to try
or
failing to work
or
failing to give everything I've got to every part of my life.
Because that's not how I roll.
like eminem said so poetically,
"Success is my only mothahsomethin option, failure's not"