Journey of a Lifetime - Erika Vallensia

Life is one word that comes with multiple meanings. It has lots of problems that you need to face every day. Full of ups and downs, it also has many blessings. To some people, life is hard, cruel, and merciless. Those people see life as a punishment throughout their entire lives. Do not worry about it though! All these problems that you are facing make you strong; it gives you courage to stand alone in the future. You all know that life is also full of moments of joy, pleasure, and success. Comfort is punctuated by misery, defeat, failures, and problems. For your information, no human being on earth who is strong, powerful, wise, or rich has not experienced struggle, suffering or failure. Life is full of paths. It is your own decision to choose the right one. You must work hard to get what you really want. Life is as interesting and wonderful as the stars in the sky.

Without a doubt, life is beautiful and full of celebration. There are days when I suddenly feel all alone, not belonging anywhere, and my head hanging down. Whenever those days come, a person tells me how precious I am. The person tells me everything is alright. From a nobody I become somebody, a very special me. The person makes me feel special, no matter how the world brings me down. Even when hurtful words stab me, I smile again because the person was there. The moment I feel like I am nothing at all, like no one would notice if I were gone, that is when I hear the person calling me. Thank God for people like this in our lives.

Please do not ever break your own friend’s heart. I am begging you; please do not do what I did it to my own friend. Before you say or do anything, please think twice. Once you hurt and break their heart, your friendship would not be the same. At the blink of an eye, a good friend becomes a stranger. Your trust will become meaningless to them. When you have offended your own friend, everyone will start to spread rumors. People will easily judge you for the little mistakes in your life. We must accept this fact; that is life. No matter how much good you do to people, they will start to judge and spread rumors about you when you make a mistake. When we have made a mistake, it takes time to make the person forgive us. I have learned many lessons from my mistakes.

Some people have anxiety, some have stress, some have depression, and some have all of them. I know it is hard to handle and it takes time to heal. If people criticize you, try to think that it is okay. You do not know them, who they are, or what they do. You do not understand why they are saying all these things about you but, if it is not true, you just ignore them. If they do not exist in your real life, they are just like air; do not mind it. Sometimes I just want to hide; I do not want to face the world, as if everything has lost its meaning.

To be honest, I have tried to commit suicide to end all the pain, but when I thought about it, it was a stupid decision. It cannot end everything, and it will make my parents and the people around me become even sadder. Please check on your friends when they are feeling down and be a listener when they try to talk about their problems. It is because I was in the same situation. Please do not ever try to end your life with suicide. Your mother took nine months to form your heart. You still have a long journey to go and you can still fix everything. You are perfect enough.

Live your life however you want. You must have fun and dance as much as you want. You also must take risks to become a better person and trust yourself more. Life is too short to save it for tomorrow. Do not ever give up and hope always. Do what your heart says, dream as much as you like to make it true. You only live once so make the most of it. You must be authentic, vulnerable, and real to face all the problems that you are facing.

Be proud of how you have handled these past few months, the silent battles you have been fighting, as well as the ways you have had to humble yourself and wipe your own tears. That takes courage. Do not ever forget to pray to God when you are feeling down. It can make you feel calm as if everything will be alright. Last but not least, no one is born ugly; we just live in a judgmental society.

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Erika Vallensia Andrew is a hardworking, friendly, helpful, and also funny student who is the second child of four siblings. She listens to music while doing homework and goes swimming at the aquatic center on weekends. Once a month, she drinks bubble tea although bubble tea is not good for health. In every badminton tournament, she has a good fighting spirit, even when losing, and she always respects her opponents too.