"Be the Change You Wish to See in the World" – Ghandi
April 7, 2014 Shenanigans, Short Story 3 comments KGayton14
My story isn’t a good one. It won’t make you feel a rollercoaster of emotions or make me different from any other closet depressed, anxious teenager. But it’s a story that needs to be told. Rule number one of this story; always keep in mind that I have a purpose. Rule number two; for the sake of this story and the ones to follow everyone must assume that everything written here is fiction because for the sake of my moral, some of it is. The parts that are real you wouldn’t believe and the parts that are not real you wouldn’t believe either so it is just safer to take none of it as fact. People can’t open up if they do not feel like they are in a safe environment.
I don’t remember a lot of stories, but I remember this one. I was faced with a choice once. A paralyzingly terrifying situation presented itself to me and I had two choices; take it all in stride and stay positive, or react completely the wrong way and go spiraling into a state of pain and grief that would set me up for hardships for years and years to come. And of course, because the universe is cruel and stories are not told for fun at the age I’ve become, I made the wrong choice. I chose to wear dark colors and hide my face behind my hair only seeing the world through a dark and distant veil. I put myself in a pit and stood in my own way. “Depression” is what the doctors called it. I called it “indifference”. Tearing at a my skin, tearing down my walls, made me rough around the edges, shaky. I started to believe the words they said about me were true. They made a perfectly happy little girl a monster to herself. It’s hard to come back from something like that.
But then, a light. One person, one hopeful experience changed all of that for me. He showed me the light inside myself and suddenly the world didn’t seem quite so dark. The words didn’t matter. What those kids said didn’t matter. The world lit up from the inside out and I took it all in with both eyes now that my hair was out of my face. The veil was lifted ever so slightly, that gave me the footing to find happiness again. I still wrestle with the darkness everyday but I wake up and choose happiness. My moral, in case you didn’t catch it, is that we can chose to let the darkness take over or we can punch the darkness in the face and always be surrounded by the light that is within all of us. We have it in us to make our lives something more than long, and it is our right to use that ability each and everyday to make the world what we want it to be.
3 Comments
I can really connect with this. I loved how you wrote this piece also. Throughout my middle school years I was bullied and I just got into a depression where I had no motivation to do anything. Things just were not going right. It took me a while to realize that I can create my own happiness and find the light by doing what I love and finding people who are more supportive. I know now that I can get myself out of my own way and become happy when I deal with what brings me down in the proper way and do out and do what I love. I also believe that everyone can help one another by doing simple acts of kindness. What you put into life is what you get out. I completely agree with out and know where you are coming from.
I also like this story. Many years ago, in my seventh or eighth grade year, I was told I had clinical depression. I was told this, and the first thing that came to my mind was anger. I wasn’t depressed, I was angry. I didn’t want to be called a depressed person. When I over came this slump of depression, I learned that sometimes the only way to get ride of my depression was to pick myself up, brush of my pants, roll up my sleeves and fight to get my happiness back. I still struggle with it. It is something that will never go away. But I have people that I can count on to lighten my day. This story really jumped out at me and I enjoyed reading every word within it.
I like how the piece is written always pointing out that there is a purpose to life and don’t let the bad drag you down. I look at it as practically everyone has a point in their life where depression is a factor but it is important for all to find the happiness and strength to get out of the slump. I especially liked how there is a happy ending to the story and a good moral to live by.