Life is full of choices and challenges. That is why people find life hard: it is hard to make the right choices.
Life is like a journey that is full of all kinds of potential disasters that could occur all the way to the journey’s end. The journey of life always goes forward: you can’t retrace your footsteps. I can’t be the baby I was years ago.
It is a good idea to learn how to make good use of your hands, as that is one way of becoming successful in life. And you should know what you want to be in the future: imagine yourself successful; talk to good friends, and a trusted adult or teacher, to discover how you can use your own talents. Do not think only about making it through the next class, although that is of course necessary! It is better to try to work out what you want to do in life: this will help you find out why you are in school. Being in school is the best chance you have of improving your opportunities in life. An education gives you the intellectual skills to understand the world, and the practical skills to make your own way in the world. Through education we can change how people think about the world, and therefore we can change the world! Life is not only about passing through many education levels but, also about being yourself and believing in your abilities.
Try using your own judgment about what other people tell you. Although their voices may be powerful, you should also stay true to your own likes and dislikes. For me, whenever I listen too much to other people, and don’t trust what my own voice is telling me, I end up messing up. However, at times, other people can guide you and help you work out what it is that you want. Many people will try to influence you. They may tell you to change your looks, or other things about yourself. But stick firmly to what you believe is right: your ambitions can come true if you believe in yourself.
Fabulous bodies are fine, but they are superficial only. Your inner voice should be your first priority; it will help you make the right choices, the ones that are best for you. And your looks are your own: someone will love you; you will never be alone. Look in the mirror, see who you are and, and embrace it. Everyone is beautiful in their own way, even though sometimes other people don’t see it. There are no short cuts to any place that is worth being; there is no victory without sacrifice.
Also note the following things:
· Try to do the best at everything you do, and be creative. This is what my former teacher used to tell us.
· When things get tough, be resilient and don’t give up. Keep on the truck to avoid messing up and crashing along that highway of life. Eventually you will make it.
· Give yourself time to think about things, so that you can spot a genuine opportunity when it comes along. And take advantage of those opportunities when they are presented to you, even if you’re not entirely sure where they will lead.
· Let your mind dwell on the present, and not the past.
This will help you to keep heading forward, rather than sliding backwards. A man who thinks too much about his ancestors is like a potato: the best part of him is underground. Keep the past in the past.
· Everyone is different: that is why my looks are not yours and that is why each person has a different talent.
I like taking time off to think, learn, dream and plan once I come up with something new, and I start practicing with determination to get the best results from my plan.
• Build confidence and believe in yourself.
Lack of confidence is my weakness. I am shy most of the time. You can do your best regardless of who you are or what others say or think of you. It’s better get started, instead of wait. Don’t give up trying, even if you make mistakes. He who makes no mistake also makes no discoveries. The best way to predict the future is to invent it! So don’t quit when things go wrong, as they sometimes will, or when the road you’re trudging seems all uphill, or when funds are low and debts are high, and you want to smile but you have to sigh. When worries bring you down, rest, if you want, but don’t quit. Life is funny with its twists and turns. As every one of us learns at one time or another, many a failure can turn around to good fortune. Don’t give up though the pace seems slow. You may succeed with another blow. Success is failure turned inside out. The silver tint of the clouds of doubt. And you never can tell how close you are. It may be near when it seems so far, so stick to the fight when you are hardest hit. It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit. And it is never too late for you to be what you might have been.
• Focus on your strengths
• If I don’t do something right the first time, I try not to worry because I know am not the only person who has failed to get it right the first time. Never say never, even if you are at a point of no return and the weight of the world seems to be on your shoulders, and the walls are in your way. Just keep fighting - that is your destiny. Don’t pity yourself : you may end up not struggling.
· If you want to show the world what you are capable of, but no knows your name yet, don’t dwell on when and where it will happen. Instead keep focused on the path. I personally never knew that Permaculture would change much in my life and instead I just kept doing the shoveling, pushing wheel barrows of cow dung, gardening each day with the project managers. You don’t need someone to give you a leg up: start with the talents you already have in your hand. For me that is art and my capacity for hard work. At my former school, Lord’s Meade Vocational College, I was well known for art because that’s something I do well. I try not to get frustrated with waiting for good things to happen to me in life. Instead I just keep trying, and make plans so that to be a better person in this competitive world.
• Make small effort each day to do something new.
Each day be different by making small effort to contribute to your skills and knowledge: learn something new, and be productive and creative. You will attract people’s attention when they like the things you make and do.
· You are not the only one who goes through hard times.
Understanding that other people have troubles helps to put your own problems into perspective. It also makes you realize that you are not alone. Understanding that everyone struggles in life gives me the energy to try harder to succeed. Life is like a sewer: what you get out of it depends on what you put into it. I think life is all about trying new things and discovering new ideas.
• Ask for help where necessary.
Here I have a problem. I often feel as if I don’t have the right words to ask for help. But it takes both sunshine and rain to make a rainbow: they both need to help each other to make up a rainbow. So what I have discovered is that asking for help does not need to be so hard. So for me when I am worried or sad, I talk about my feelings to someone I trust. I don’t stay in isolation. It’s better to ask for help than get stuck on the way.
• Try to be happy and make friends.
They say that if you make those who are close to you happy, those who are far will come closer. So enjoy the company and the personalities of those near you, because other people will see from this that you are interested in other people, and they will want to be near you too. I am a friendly person but I think that some people find it hard to become friendly with me because I seem cool and distant. I try my level best not to lock myself a way from the world because I know that ‘together we stand, divided we fall’. I love getting out and joining other students or friends whenever am free, so as to hang out and chat and share experiences with them because I know that friendship is what binds the world together in peace. May we all become friends if possible. This point is from my own research and from my own experiences so far with my friends.
