What is the best piece of advice you've ever been given, and why? (500 words)
A lot of things make me a little bit happy. I like apples. I eat around an average of three per day. Being warm makes me happy, so by default, sunshine and quilts make me happy. New clothes make me happy and freshly laundered clothes make me almost as happy. I like presents tied up with ribbon and the dinners at my grandparents' house. Growing older makes me happy. Eventually it won't, but for now, it does. Vacations make me happy, and so does that feeling I get when I come home after being away and sleep in my bed for the first time in a while. Finding money makes me happy, even if it's only a lucky penny, and I think it would be fantastic to win the lottery someday.
In my lifetime, I have been denied none of this. My mother keeps a fresh supply of apples in our refrigerator. We have more blankets around the house than I would need in the middle of winter in Antarctica. I've traveled to many places and I always come home to my bed. Every year, I make lists of things I want for Christmas and every year, my family does their best to give me these things; they always do a pretty good job. Yet in my lifetime, I have not always been happy.
Some things made me unhappy. My nose. It was too long and too big and it ruined pictures. My eyes. I tried to cover them up with sunglasses for a while because they ruined pictures too. My stomach. I only wore one-piece bathing suits one summer. My inability to tan. The fact that a lot of my friends were self-proclaimed losers who liked Star Wars too much. The lack of the opposite gender in my life.
I tried to blame my unhappiness on these things. I told myself that if I had cooler friends and a flatter stomach, I'd be happy. If I had a tan and a cuter nose, I'd have a boyfriend and if I had a boyfriend, my life would be better. My mother shook her head and told me that I was wrong. She told me that I couldn't be happy unless I was first and foremost happy with myself. It took me a while of trying to find happiness in birthday presents and stomach crunches before I realized how right she was.
Since my realization, I've been trying to be happy with myself. I'm looking for my strengths, instead of my flaws. I'm focusing on the positive; I want to be more optimistic. I'm realizing that everyone looks prettier with a smile. It's working, I think. I'm looking in the mirror and seeing happiness instead of a big nose. I have a real kind of happiness now, the kind that doesn't flicker away at a moment's notice.
I wore a bikini last summer.
I love my friends.
I smile more now.
A lot of things make me a little bit happy. I like apples. I eat around an average of three per day. Being warm makes me happy, so by default, sunshine and quilts make me happy. New clothes make me happy and freshly laundered clothes make me almost as happy. I like presents tied up with ribbon and the dinners at my grandparents' house. Growing older makes me happy. Eventually it won't, but for now, it does. Vacations make me happy, and so does that feeling I get when I come home after being away and sleep in my bed for the first time in a while. Finding money makes me happy, even if it's only a lucky penny, and I think it would be fantastic to win the lottery someday.
In my lifetime, I have been denied none of this. My mother keeps a fresh supply of apples in our refrigerator. We have more blankets around the house than I would need in the middle of winter in Antarctica. I've traveled to many places and I always come home to my bed. Every year, I make lists of things I want for Christmas and every year, my family does their best to give me these things; they always do a pretty good job. Yet in my lifetime, I have not always been happy.
Some things made me unhappy. My nose. It was too long and too big and it ruined pictures. My eyes. I tried to cover them up with sunglasses for a while because they ruined pictures too. My stomach. I only wore one-piece bathing suits one summer. My inability to tan. The fact that a lot of my friends were self-proclaimed losers who liked Star Wars too much. The lack of the opposite gender in my life.
I tried to blame my unhappiness on these things. I told myself that if I had cooler friends and a flatter stomach, I'd be happy. If I had a tan and a cuter nose, I'd have a boyfriend and if I had a boyfriend, my life would be better. My mother shook her head and told me that I was wrong. She told me that I couldn't be happy unless I was first and foremost happy with myself. It took me a while of trying to find happiness in birthday presents and stomach crunches before I realized how right she was.
Since my realization, I've been trying to be happy with myself. I'm looking for my strengths, instead of my flaws. I'm focusing on the positive; I want to be more optimistic. I'm realizing that everyone looks prettier with a smile. It's working, I think. I'm looking in the mirror and seeing happiness instead of a big nose. I have a real kind of happiness now, the kind that doesn't flicker away at a moment's notice.
I wore a bikini last summer.
I love my friends.
I smile more now.