Taking Things Too Seriously

As a teenager I know that we take some things way too seriously. There are days when I hear people stressing about the test that they’ve just written or about to write. Some people spend hours wondering if they said the right thing that day or if they will be able to achieve in the way they would like.

It’s that way of thinking that makes us become stressed and frustrated. This is why I try to remind myself that I probably won’t remember those embarrassing moments or slightly below average marks in ten years’ time. Or if we do then hopefully we’ll either laugh at the memory or use it to become a better version of ourselves.

Let me give you an example:

One day when I was two years old I was playing in the garden with my one cousin. His sister (my older cousin) was flying home from Cape Town that day and I was really excited. After waiting for so long the two of us eventually decided to take action. I grabbed my new wheelbarrow, my doll and backpack and my cousin took my teddy bear before walking through the house to find my grandmother. ‘Can you open the gate please? We’re going to fetch Kayley from the airport.’ I told her not understanding that the airport was just less than 30 kilometres away from her house.

Of course, she didn’t let me go and at the time I must have been angry with her but now I laugh when she retells it. You see, though our problems may seem very huge now we will overcome them and become even stronger than we were before.

Why Perfection is Unattainable

A few days ago I received this note and it reminded me of a problem many teenagers face everyday. The problem: Striving for Perfection.

Hi Casperette,

Thanks for writing to me :)

I wish I could tell you all of the secrets to perfection but unfortunately I'm in the same position as you. There are days when I think I'm really close to being perfect yet I never seem to reach it.

Two months before I got your letter I was daydreaming in my garden. I wondered why my dogs were always so happy and carefree. They weren't constantly fretting whether they were wearing pretty clothes or worrying if they were going to pass their exams. As I thought about it more and more I realized that I lived a completely different life to my dogs (and this is not just because I'm not covered in fur and crazy about dog biscuits). Whilst they spent hours enjoying life I was either worrying or too busy to think. To be honest, I was jealous that my life was so hectic and there's was not. But I couldn't think of anything to do about it so I simply picked up a stick and threw it for them.

My thoughts moved on over the next few days but I never forgot that moment and a week later I realized what was wrong with my life. Before I say it I must admit, I'm a really lucky girl. I have a lovely family. I have awesome friends, I go to an amazing school and I know that God is watching over me. However, when you strive for perfection you don't always appreciate the things you have with you. This is exactly what happened to me. And along with that, I was worrying about attaining perfection.

Ever since I realized this I stopped striving towards perfection, and honestly, I now know that I would rather be imperfect than perfect. Because perfection is different in everyone's eyes and as a result it is unattainable, and when something is unattainable then striving for it will only make you sad, frustrated and angry. So, do what I did, love your uniqueness, embrace your imperfection and I promise your worries will soon fade away.

Smiles,
Kirsten A. Everett

PS: Write again soon :)

World Environment Day

So as most of you know the 5th of June was World Environment Day. I wanted to do something special but because I spent most of it at school and did homework when I got home I decided that I would rather do something on the closest Saturday (the 7th of June). 

When the sun rose on this day I got dressed in my informal school uniform and headed down to the Braamfontein Spruit with my mom and sister. There were many Brescia House School girls there and together we armed ourselves with rubber gloves, gumboots and dustbin bags and began to clean up all of the litter. I’m not going to lie and say that it was easy because it wasn’t. We waded through the river to rescue floating bottles or deodorant cans. We tugged and tugged at all sorts of objects, as we tried to free them from the river bed. All in all, we worked hard and managed to remove different parts of a printer, a carpet, a blanket, many cables, wire and lots of plastic bottles from the river.

I hope everyone had as much fun as I did by being outside and participating in various activities to help clean up our environment. Remember, we are all mighty Eco Warriors and together we can make our world a better place.