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Life Isn’t/Life Is

I first read these words from a story in Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul when I was in high school. They had such an impact on me that I fancily typed them up, formatted them in a colorful fashion (surprise, surprise), and used them to craft a hanging plaque-esque room decoration. When I went away to college, I took the words with me. They have not ceased to influence my thoughts, actions, and attitude towards life. I plan on bringing that crafted plaque back to high school—in my classroom, when I’m a teacher. Hopefully they can be words of inspiration to you all as well…   

“Life isn’t about keeping score. It’s not about how many people call you and it’s not about who you’ve dated, are dating, or haven’t dated at all. It isn’t about who you’ve kissed, what sport you play, or which guy or girl likes you. It’s not about your shoes or your hair or the color of your skin or where you live or go to school. In fact, it’s not about grades, money, clothes, or colleges that accept you or not. Life isn’t about if you have lots of friends or if you are alone; and it’s not about how accepted or unaccepted you are. Life just isn’t about that.

But life is about who you love and who you hurt. It’s about how you feel about yourself. It’s about trust, happiness, and compassion. It’s about sticking up for your friends and replacing inner hate with love. Life is about avoiding jealousy, overcoming ignorance, and building confidence. It’s about what you say and what you mean. It’s about seeing people for who they are and not what they have. Most of all, it is about choosing to use your life to touch someone else’s in a way that could never have been achieved otherwise. These choices are what life’s about.” 

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