The Girl Who Was Happy Anyway
I learned one of the most useful lessons of my life from a girl I barely knew.
In high school, I skulked around, ashamed of my height, my acne, my glasses, and my average grades. The whole school seemed to be "telling" me to sit down and shut up - so I did. I was invisible.
I observed an unusual classmate who had even more problems than I had. She was tiny, with masses of wild black hair and very strong facial features. Her parents were Italian immigrants, and one could hear a trace of their accent in her speech. She was ridiculed.
I marveled at how, unlike me, she went ahead and lived a life anyway. She extended herself to the people who interested her, and made friends. Her magnificent singing voice made her the star of the drama club. She caught the attention of a kind, funny, smashing-looking guy and had a big romance. She walked proudly with him through the school halls, and when the romance came to an end, she mourned openly.
She fascinated me, because she didn't allow anyone to define her.
Here was a school of 1200 teens "telling" her, as they seemed to be "telling" me, to hide and be quiet because she wasn't worthy of friendship, of creative achievement, of displaying her emotions when her romance began and ended. And yet she went ahead and was happy anyway.
I was filled with admiration for her, and decided to live my life as she lived hers. I made friends, joined the drama club, and had a romance. I sang and danced on stage, and spent my off-hours with my new group of friends - including my boyfriend.
And I did it all as tall as a tree, in glasses, with acne.
By example, my classmate taught me to take ownership of my life. She taught me that I didn't have to wait for anyone's green light to start living.
If you're waiting for someone's approval for the permission to begin living, I suggest that you start anyway. Live even though you haven't lost the weight. Live even though your hair is thinning. Live even though you've always "hated" your nose, can't play the piano, and weren't loved exactly the way you wanted to be when you were a kid.
Live anyway.
P.S. She traveled to Italy, married an Italian man, settled there and had two children.