Mountains

I was always the chubby kid. In elementary school I'd walk the mile while my teacher yelled at me to jog. As ugly as I was, my lack of self-esteem made me even uglier. No one really wanted to hang around me because I was always depressed. At the Valentine's dance in sixth grade the same boy asked me to every dance... my neighbor and childhood friend who felt bad for me. But no girls asked him to dance, either.

I always wanted to be pretty, but instead of pursuing beauty, I sat down in the grass at lunch and compared myself to the other girls at school and felt sorry for myself.

This is me on my thirteenth birthday, December 5, 2009.

I'm not sure when or how it happened, but I guess one morning I woke up and decided if I was really concerned about the way I looked, I might as well do something about it, just like my mom says. I started going on walks and cutting down my portion sizes. (Along with cutting off the split ends of my hair, tweezing my eyebrows, brushing my teeth twice a day, wearing make-up, and other basic steps in looking prettier.)

This is me around the end of seventh grade in June 2010.

This is me on the first week of eighth grade having lost eighteen pounds since January.

I'm still not where I dream of being, but I can walk the halls of the school feeling confident with who I am and not be concerned about what others think. I feel like I've learned so much lately, I've even learned how to be happy. Like it says in the song "Mountains" by Lonestar: "I've been around and I've noticed that walkin's easier when the road is flat and dang, those  hills'll get you every time. But the good Lord gave us mountains so we could learn how to climb."