Practicing positivity (Opinion)

I don’t like talking about the problems in my life. That’s not to say that I don’t have any, because I have a ton. I’m probably one of the most problematic people in the school. If I were to list every bad thing that has ever happened to me, I would leave a wrong impression. But, the countless issues that plague my life don’t define me. I’m just not a negative person. I’d rather talk about my accomplishments than my failures.

I won’t deny that it’s tough to remain cheerful in a world shrouded beneath so much pessimism, but I have tried the best I can while spreading happiness wherever I go. I, however, haven’t had this light view of life. I consider my freshman year of high school as a dark time in my life. At the beginning of that year, I changed as a person. Not for the better, but for the worst. I was no longer as cheerful or as carefree as I once was. I was miserable; I hated myself as well as the world that surrounded me. My creativity also suffered during this time because of my self-loathing. The stories I wrote written were lifeless and lacked the passion that I put into my previous ones. I can look back at the tales I wrote when I was 12 with fondness, but I can only cringe at the stuff I had written during freshman year. The characters in those later stories were mean and hateful, the worlds were dull, and the jokes were painfully unfunny. These detestable narratives seem like they were written by a completely different person than myself, but they were a mirror image of myself during this time.

As the year went on, I became more positive about myself and started to make more friends. One of these friends was an amazingly talented artist and could accurately recreate any piece of video game artwork with a pencil and paper. My envy of his art helped drive me to improve my own art, and this eventually led me to start making animated videos for the internet. During sophomore year, I was much more confident in myself and my art. My writing also improved during this time. I took risks and speak out for what I believe in through my fantastical tales. I also began to experiment with my older stories by changing up old plot lines and adding in new characters. I also began to become even more social and more open to others.

I soon saw the world in a more positive light. Life is a mess, but that didn’t mean I had to be a mess right back.