On November 13, 1987, a 17 year old boy that was studying at American University in Washington, DC, decided to go out to a bar with his friends on this Thursday night. From a distance, he spotted a beautiful girl. Of course, he was too shy to ask her to dance, so he just admired her from a distance. A few moments later, a pack of trouble-looking boys walked into the bar. Without paying much attention to them, the boy just continued talking with his friends. When he turned his head to take another glance at the girl, he noticed one of the guys from the pack was talking to the girl, though she looked very uncomfortable.
“Don’t you want to dance with me, c’mon, c’mon dance with me.”, he said, pushing his body towards her. - “I don’t want to! Leave me alone.”, the girl replied. After a few minutes, even though his conscious told him not to, the boy looking at this from a distance, stepped in. - “Hey! Leave her alone. She already told you she doesn’t want to dance with you.”, the boy told him. - “Ok..”, the other boy replied. He seemed very calm for someone that had just called him out. While the concerned boy asked if the girl was okay, the other boy called his pack of guys to leave. As they we’re all making their way out of the bar, the same boy from before, picked up a piece of broken glass and screamed to the boy talking to the girl, “Hey!”, threw the piece of glass at his face and ran out of the place. The poor boy laid unconsciously on the ground, with a thick piece of glass in his right eye, and blood running down his face. He was left in pure darkness. Quickly, he was rushed to the hospital, but not fast enough. After surgery the doctor told him he had lost complete vision in his right eye, forever. It was hard for this boy to get used to seeing through only one eye the first couple of years. It was especially hard to deal with the fact the boy that did this to him got away, with no punishment. Driving was harder, not being able to see his full surroundings, it was all very difficult. It was a huge emotional challenge as well because he would have to accept the fact that he will no longer see through his right eye for the rest of his life. This boy is now turning 47 years old in a week and I’m proud to call him my father. He currently uses a prosthetic eye, but only for looks. He is completely blind in his right eye but has no shame. He has learned to live with it. There have been plenty of bumps on the road along the way, but he never lost hope. We never know what could happen to us today, tomorrow or ever. We could be in a car crash tomorrow and die instantly, or a family member could get into an accident. We don’t know and it’s simply out of our control. However, we do have certain things in our control. My father would have never thought that at the age of 17 he would be go blind in an eye forever, but it did. It happened and he learned to have the right attitude about it, no matter how difficult it was after the incident. I believe these kind of situations happen in life so we are reminded of the many things we are lucky to have, even if they are something as common as our eyes.
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Do you ever find yourself wishing for a specific talent? Being able to cook, being good at a sport, playing an instrument, etc. Well, welcome to the story of my life.
As a little girl I’ve always dreamed about playing the piano, everything about it fascinated me: its delicate keys, the relaxing sound it adds to an environment, the peaceful melodies it can create. Two years ago, I decided to finally take lessons. Extremely nervous to meet my teacher for the first time, a stubby old man walked into my house with a very determined expression on his face. He’s a very traditional man who does not like wasting time and believes in the power of practice, practice, and more practice. I am a very dedicated person to learning piano, but there’s only so much dedication I can give with homework, soccer practice, projects, and other activities I have going on in my life at the same time. The worst moment I frequently experience in my life is waiting for my teacher to arrive for our lesson and knowing I have not practiced anything and I’m still at the same level as the previous class. The disappointment in his voice kills me when he asks me, “you haven’t practice, right?”. I tell him I’ve been busy, which I know is true but I can’t help but feel like a failure. I truly believe people are born with talents and, with practice, they improve that talent along the way, but I honestly feel I was not born with this talent and I’m pushing something that’s not there. I tell this to my mother and she tells me that’s ridiculous. I try telling my teacher I don’t think I’m good enough and he responds the same as my mother, but even though this sounds terrible, what if he’s just saying that because I’m paying him? So if my mother is forced to tell me not to worry because she’s my mother, and my teacher could be lying to me for his own personal benefit, how do I know if I should just quit and stop wasting my time? I’ve considered it so many times... but then I stop. I stop and forget about all the bullshit. I’m serious. I forget about being good and wanting to please others and I ask myself, what do I love? And deep down, I know I love piano. You see, the moment I am prepared for that lesson and do have time to practice, time stops. I have complete presence of mind and allow myself to only focus on my fingers touching the keys and the music coming from them. Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, the opportunities I have to improve my skills using their compositions excite me. I’m not ready to give something up that makes me feel alive, even when I do struggle at times. Maybe right now is not the best time to explore and challenge myself with constant practice and dedication, due to all the other stuff going on in my life, but that doesn’t mean I have to quit completely because it’s a passion of mine I can’t let go of. Maybe I’ll never be really good at playing, which after a long time of accepting it, it’s finally okay with me. After worrying a lot, I’m fine with keeping this passion of mine to myself, and hey, maybe in the long run I’ll be confident enough to play in front of others, but for now I’m satisfied with me, myself, and my piano, whether it’s a talent or just a passion. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2016
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