Making Stronger

• Kate Lloyd, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2011

When I was 11 my best friend was diagnosed with cancer. Her struggle, in a way I never thought possible, really made me realise how lucky I am and how everything in my life happens from a reason. It made me think about how sometimes it is only when bad has happened that we can really appreciate the small things in life. It is funny how her sickness, her pain and perseverance, made me, an average girl, stronger.
To have peace we must prepare for war. We have people fighting in Afghanistan, Libya, all over the world. These people want liberation and peace yet they must fight against others. Innocent lives are lost and they wonder whether they are really doing the right thing. Then again, who is right? Everyone is right for their own reasons. Maybe we just have to believe in ourselves and our own conviction.
To know what love is you must have felt hate. Such extremes, surely they cannot affect one another. But they do. A person who has been ridiculed and downgraded will really know love and feel how beautiful it is. A person who has been shielded from harsh words and brought up in seas of affection will take it for granted. No one wants to be hated, no one wants to be alone but, believe it or not, loathing can open your eyes to love.
To achieve you must experience failure. Those who have failed know they must work hard to get what they want out of life. They have such strong drive and they will succeed through perseverance and patience. When they achieve their goals they really feel the success and know that their work has paid off. People who have always done well can not really understand what it is like to feel totally motivated and moved towards a goal they might not achieve. Everything will have always been within their grasp and they will be able to get it without trying much. Work hard and strive forward, take risks, they will help you to understand achievement on a greater scale.
To know what is good you must experience the worst. There are people in impoverished countries who can be totally blissful when they find a scrap of fish in the dump. We, who are richly blessed, are not truly happy until amazing things happen. The people worse off go through hardship every day of their life and so the smallest things bring the most profound joy. We have so much that it is hard to be grateful for every little thing. We could learn from people in Cambodia or Africa or Zimbabwe, but people are scared. Scared to see the horrors and experience the pain but in the end those are the things that will drive us to see the deeper meaning and hidden beauty.

Knowing that things happen for a reason. Believing that everything is related to another, in the Ultimate Circles. Knowing that we can change the future and have a say in our destiny. Preparing for war and striving for peace, acting for our beliefs. This is what matters to me. I will leave you with an old proverb which impacts on my life. “That which does not kill you, only makes you stronger.”