I am a proud to be a glow stick

I won't lie, my life is peachy and fun and very colorful :P But it isn't like that all the time. I always try to be an optimist and look at life through a positive perspective, but I wasn't ALWAYS peachy.

The first time in my life I ever felt broken was when my grandma died exactly 7 years ago tomorrow. I was in 5th grade and I missed her terribly. She spent the last 4 months of her life in the hospital and that took a huge toll on my family. The funny thing is right now as I am writing this, I am wearing her grey, fringe coat my dad laughs at every time I put it on, but I am so happy when I do. That was probably the first time I can pin point feeling broken.

The next major event is one I have already mentioned, the summer after I finished 9th grade. It honestly felt like the side of me I kept hidden from people was pounding on the inside of me. I finally gave in and got some nerd glasses and earned my YW medallion. It was hard letting go of social norms and trying to do my own thing. I struggled with it until the beginning of my senior year.

Now, I look back at all those times in my life that I felt 'broken' and I realize it was preparing me for the time I would shine.

I am a glow stick that has been broken. You know how you can only see glow sticks glow/shine in the dark? Well, people in my life don't always see that shiny part of me. This may sound like a bad thing but to me, it isn't. You can choose to see me as broken or glowing in a dark world; people have their own perception of me.

I don't like to dwell on the past. I will be brutally honest: I have cried a lot, laughed a lot, loved a lot, and lost a lot. But all those memories and life experiences have made me
into the glow stick I am today. I don't care that I was broken because now is the time for me to shine. Now is the time for the world to get to know me. Whoever it might be when they do take the time.