skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Dear 16-Year Old Elisabeth,
How excited you are to FINALLY be 16.
Remember how Kim & Sarah decorated your room with streamers, balloons, and candy? And how they gave you a white rose on your pillow?
Yeah. That was really cool.
So why did you stop being friends with them?
Oh yeah, that's right, you wanted to be more popular.
And remember how you are completely obsessed with that tall, lanky, black-haired boy?
Yeah. That was really dumb. Don't be obsessed. Being friends with him would have been so much better.
But it's okay. Everybody does stupid things.
However, remember that one stupid thing you did? How you constantly yelled at your parents and you felt like your siblings were inferior to you?
That....that wasn't okay.
You need to be nicer to them because honestly, they're the people that matter the most.
(my little sister & I)
They're the people who will be there when you're sitting in your apartment, bawling your eyes out because college isn't AT ALL like you wanted it to be. They'll be there. And guess who won't? Those other people you supposedly called friends.
But remember how much weight you lost?
Yeah. That was pretty cool.
Whatever possessed you to join the cross-country team, I will never know.
But you did and running 3 miles every day from June to January changed you for the better.
You can now call yourself a runner!
Don't be so eager to leave.
Sugar City might be a small town, but it will end up meaning the world to you.
It'll be your safe haven in a world of scary things.
It'll help you stay connected to your little bubble of a world that only exists in Sugar City.
Be happy in the moment.
Stop wasting away your life worrying about that boy who never texted you back.
Become concerned with what people need instead of what you need.
Just be happy.
Love,
20-year old Elisabeth
Going to my home ward is always an adventure.
Reason #1: My bishopric loves my guts and because they want to show how much they love me, they like to surprise me with a "...and Elisabeth Gee will now give our invocation.."
Talk about a warm welcome.
Reason #2: I love seeing how much it changes. There are so many new families, I can't even keep up with all the new people!
Also, they are a lot of young couples who (I just realized) are practically the same age as me. Weird.
Reason #3: All of the old ladies come up to me and tell me how beautiful I am. If I could just have those ladies follow me around all the time, I'd be a supermodel!
Reason #4: Catching up on high school gossip. I know, it's petty. But really, it's SO interesting to see what's happening in everyone's lives!
Reason #5: Okay, I don't have a reason #5, but I feel like stopping at reason #4 is awkward.
I believe in rejection.
I believe in taking risks that will lead to failure.
I believe in stretching your comfort zone to outrageous limits.
I believe in these because I have never done them.
I want to though.
I want to take risks.
I want to stretch my comfort zone.
What's holding me back?
Fear.
More specifically, fear of people.
I'm afraid of ridicule and humiliation.
I'm afraid that people will un-friend me on Facebook.
I'm afraid people will stop being nice to me because I failed.
I'm afraid people will tarnish my well-earned respect because of one meaningful act of strength.
I see other people become the people they want to be and I'm envious. Covetous, even, because those people have what I so desperately crave.
It isn't about love or getting a successful job or climbing Mount Everest.
It's about the little things.
The girl that is kind to everyone no matter who they are.
The boy who holds the door open for every person, not just girls.
The human beings that make other people feel wonderful by just being in their presence.
The girl who knows without a doubt that there is a God.
These people stand up for what they believe in and they take risks for it.
It's easy to stand back idly and have a neutral response to situations.
It's easy to agree with someone just so there isn't contention.
But what's really hard is taking a stance.
What's really hard is being the person, deep down inside, you know you can be.
What's really hard is treating others the way you want to be treated, no matter how socially awkward they may be.
What's really hard is believing.
