Laughter can be heard among voices, but some may be misinterpreted. The children snickering under their breath, hiding their criticism and judgement from your view. Thoughts swarm through your head as you pass them by. Hatred fills your veins. Insecurity drowns out your optimism which is only seen as a faint light as you stroll away from the crowd. Looking down, you glance at the misshapen form of your body. You feel your neck, thighs and arms; struggling to stay positive. Judgement surrounds your mind, entrapping it. The need to be accepted preoccupies you; consumes you. Minute by minute, the fear inches throughout your whole entire body. You can already feel the self-consciousness growing like mold. “Will people like me?” you ask. “I probably look obese” you say. “Nobody cares about me anymore” “I’m not attractive.” I’m this. I’m that. Well…. I’m me.
You stride down the hall, footsteps quickening. Isolation tempts you to hide.. but your conscience tells you otherwise. People stop and stare. They whisper. Speak to their peers. Laugh. You assume it’s about you. You worry. Fear. See only criticism in their vicious eyes.
The artificial smile that you wear each day shields you from others. Many think that everything is fine. That all is jolly and great in your life like the ending of all Hallmark movies. But it’s not. It never was in the first place. So you smile, looking as if all is well … but inside you’re dying. You may already be dead.
With all hope gone from your limbs, you slump away with shoulders drooping. You feel as if no one can empathize; that you’re all alone. Even if millions of people had the same issue, no one would know because they’d be doing exactly what you were doing. Hiding. Smiling artificially. Acting as if nothing is wrong in their lives. But there is.
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What is wrong with this world? So many people are facing these issues, but none would have ever noticed their pain. Many individuals have actually died because they kept it in for so long without help. without support, or acknowledgment. So they killed themselves. How horrible is that? When will the world recognize the importance of accepting others. If people learned to accept audibly, than the world would be much more peaceful. But it never will be. All people have a strange inclination to judge their peers. I don’t know why, but we can’t seem shake off that habit. If we could.. than wouldn’t this world be much more joyful?
We always speak of abolishing poverty and creating peace on earth, but have we accomplished that yet? NO. If human beings learned to accept others with their flaws (even the homeless men), than we’d be much closer to creating a more peaceful society. Although there are billions of people on this earth and only one of you, it still counts. Like donating pennies to a charity or running one mile each day. With only one penny, it doesn’t seem like much.. but when adding them all up years later, it’s a large amount. So don’t give up hope, for we CAN make a difference. One person at a time.
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Yes. Agreed, for the most part, with this piece. Powerful read!
Suggestions:
-“…or anyone even acknowledging the issue.” The word “acknowledgement” would do well here.
-In the first line, “some may me”, correct the “me” by changing it into “be”.
-The final paragraph rings as a bit contradictory. At first, the narrator presents humans as stunted emotionally, as though humans are not progressing further. This mentality is tossed aside when mentioning the power an individual has. Perhaps re-wording? It’s understandable as is though!
As always, keep up the great work!
Michelle R.
So corrected most of the mistakes. Any tips on altering the words? I’m stumped on that piece. But overall, I thank you profusely for helping me. It means a lot.