Life Lessons: An open letter
We asked three different women from different backgrounds and ages to answer the question: 'What has been the most important life lesson you've learned on your own?' This is what they said:
At a young age I felt I was forced to learn many things due to circumstances in my life. By the age of 12 my mom passed away. I say that not to gain sympathy, but to share some of the things it taught me that I never would have learned had that not happened. For example, how to be strong, and positive. This are words I often hear when someone is describing how they believe I am. I used to say that I was strong because being strong was the only choice I had, but over time I learned that wasn’t the case. I didn’t have to be strong, I chose to be. To be able to be strong for others was always something important to me. I suppose in that time of my life and other events following, I taught myself to become stronger and to lead a positive life. It’s so much easier said than done, I know that because I’ve lived it. This all helped me grow as a person. I believe everything you go through molds you into the person you become, that you choose to be the person you want to be. If you want to be strong, if you want to be happy, positive, understanding, or anything else, work on it. Almost everything is a choice, you just have to make it. It’s a life long journey becoming a better you. A quote I live by is, “Do the best you can until you know better, then do better.” I hope my early life experience can help others that may read this. Life is a constant challenge. Keep pushing forward, stay strong, stay as positive as you can. Most importantly, never give up.
The most important lesson I’ve learned since I graduated college is that life is really really long, and you have a lot of time to become the woman you want to be. If you just live each day of your life with your head pointed in the right general direction, you’ll get there.
Photo courtesy of: Margo Gianos
Recently, especially this year as a freshman in high school, I have learned that it really doesn't matter what people think of you. I get so many haters, but I have learned that you just have to keep being yourself and doing what you do. You can't let other people's opinions get to you.