Amelia B., Northmont Middle School
Living Life to the Fullest
“Change your thoughts and you change your world” (Norman Vincent Peale). Living a good life has different value to everyone. In my opinion it’s important to live life to the fullest. Living a good life means to be happy, be confident, and be positive.
Having a good life is different for everyone. In my opinion being happy is living a good life. In school we had to choose a word we want to live by. I chose happy. Someone once said, “When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” Do what makes you happy. I have faith in God, myself, and my family. I love to bake because it brings joy to others. These things make me happy. Being confident leads to success.
Gain confidence; step out of your comfort zone, self-reflect, tell yourself you can and you will, accept you aren''t perfect, remind yourself of your achievements, don’t compare yourself to others, have faith… These are easier said than done, and I say this from experience. I run cross country. This season I have worked so hard to improve and yet I still haven''t PR’d. Every race I push myself to my best ability but my race times haven’t been where I wanted. I have hope because I am surrounded by encouraging family, friends, and coaches. I have been working on my self-confidence for years and throughout this experience I have learned so much, especially that “You can fail but you can rise also” (Angelique Kidjo). I have definitely failed at times but I continue to rise because I continue to try. Though my self-confidence levels have been a rollercoaster I will continue to rise through my faith in God and myself. The season isn’t over yet, and I am not quitting; I have confidence I will push myself to do better than ever. In order to be confident, you have to think positive.
Thinking positive is life changing. Try it. It might not be easy, but it’s possible. Surround yourself with positive people, don’t expect to be perfect, just breathe, change the negative to positive, and remember there is good in every day. I surround myself with happy people. Going back to my personal experience, it has helped to think positive. When I am in the middle of a cross country race, instead of thinking I still have a whole mile, I think I am halfway done! Life isn’t a race so take the time to breathe and find the good in every day and remember to do your best and enjoy what you are doing.
There are many ways to live life to the fullest, three important factors are being happy, confident, and optimistic. Life is hard but you can do it if you just try. I challenge you to do what makes you happy!
