reality check

"And the question is, was I more alive then than I am now? I happily have to disagree; I laugh more often now, I cry more often now, I am more me." - Peter Bjorn and John

• Sometimes I think back on who I used to be and wonder how I got here today. I know that at some point, I had the innocence of a child in my eyes. Along with "growing up", in the midst of all the wonder and excitement, came people and circumstances that hurt me. Yes they may have taken away that sparkling innocence in my eyes, but there is no other way to become a real person. I would rather know pain so that I may know joy. I would rather witness the bad in people so that I may appreciate the good.

While I realize that I'm not the carefree little girl I once was, I laugh more often now, I cry more often now (maybe not literally), I am more me.