Growing up, a lot of children and adolescents are faced with life-altering troubles and changes in their lives. More times than not, a child experiences a nasty divorce, an unfortunate death, abuse of some sort, or are put in a variety of situations that cause them to see more than they should ever have to see at such a young age. On the flip side of that, a good number of children don’t face any sort of loss or sadness until they’re much older. Loss and sadness is inevitable, and there will always be situations in people’s lives that knock them down and make them grow. For the people who haven’t experienced what it’s like to lose something that you love with all of your heart, haven’t been put into situations that make them question why they’re not good enough, or haven’t dealt with any sort of mental illness, you may take it for granted or you may think that you’re lucky. You probably are; not experiencing the horrors that life can bring at a young age is probably good thing- but it can also bite you in the butt a little later on down the road.
I’ve seen a lot in my almost 20 years of life, probably more than I should have seen by now. I’ve seen mental illness, hurt, pain, eating disorders, addiction, abuse, suicide, loss, death and suffering not only in my own life, but in the lives of the people I love. Sometimes watching someone you love experience these tragic things hurts just as much. With life comes sadness, defeat, and loss no matter what you try to do to avoid it. We all go through a lot, we all see a lot, and we all hurt a lot. But if you live your life right, you won’t allow these things to vanish your overall happiness forever. We fall down, we lay there for awhile, but then we have to get back up. You’ve got to get back up or you will just keep getting stepped on.
