No one can have a brand new beginning but anyone can start now and make a brand new ending.
There were 2 rival cousins that were 2 years apart. We'll call them cousin A who is older and cousin B who is younger. Cousin B was frequently jealous of cousin A because since cousin A was older, she had more privileges i.e. freedom as they were growing up and cousin B had to wait 2 years before she could experience the same experience - and to a teen, 2 years is an eternity. From big things to small things, cousin B had to watch cousin A live the life cousin B had longed for; cousin A got to go out with friends, have a boyfriend, etc. The jealousy wasn't alleviated since cousin A, well she wasn't boastful, but she wasn't humble either. Cousin A got straight A's, was in all sorts of extra-curricular activities, graduated high school with high honors, and got into UCLA. Cousin B tried hard, had a 3.97 G.P.A. and when it was her turn, she didn't get into UCLA. To an 18 year old, this was a defining moment of self-worth. It didn't help to hear about cousin A's stories about her UCLA college years (cousin A was a sophomore there by this time). Cousin B did get accepted to other colleges like Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which to me is a great school, but she had her eye on UCLA. She didn't submit any responses to any colleges. Because she got nothing but nagging from her parents, during the summer, she enrolled at a local community college still feeling worthless, but at least this kept the nagging at a level she could tolerate. Although still feeling like crap, she still kept up with attempting to have straight A's. She thought to at least uphold this because this had been her rhythm since grade school. To fill her time, to fill the void of feeling worthless, she wanted to be around people and so she got into more student organizations.
Before you know it, it was February of spring semester of sophomore year. About 2 years has passed and by this time cousin A was making plans for her UCLA graduation party. She was graduating with an engineering degree and going on her 2nd round of interviews with Lockheed Martin. As much as cousin B wanted to be happy for her cousin and is proud to be in close proximity of someone with prestige, she couldn't help but be reminded that she couldn't have that same great thing for herself. At this time, she was still in the local community college. Granted, she did make the best of these community college years; she's had the best grades she's ever had before and she's made life-long friends via the various organizations she led. In addition to being reminded of her heartbreak of not getting into UCLA, she'll be transferring in the fall and is currently waiting for acceptance letters from universities. This was nerve racking! She applied everywhere including UCLA and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Now that she's a little older and a little wiser and she's met people who were heartbroken when they didn't get into Cal Poly, she's realized that going to Cal Poly is a privilege that she shouldn't take for granted. On the day of cousin A's graduation, cousin B woke up and felt dreadful even though she knew the right thing to do was to be happy for her cousin. She went for a therapy run. During her run, she realized "I really ought be proud of my cousin. She WORKED for that. She's earned and deserves it. My cousin hasn't done anything bad to me." So she went to the graduation ceremony feeling pride for her cousin. And being there with all the banners, music and seeing how her whole family & relatives were happy, genuinely made her happy too. The ceremony was so active that it took her mind off of her acceptance letters, or rejection letters. Although the big graduation party was to take place at an expensive hall next Saturday, they had a smaller gathering at cousin A's parents' house. There they all talked, laughed as a family. When she got home that night, she realized she hasn't checked the mail that day because she went for a run and forgot all about it. So she checked with her heart pounding. And just like a movie, there were acceptance letters/envelopes from Cal Poly, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Stanford and Cornell. She chose Stanford and chose pre-med.
This girl has been a doctor for 3 years now.
Nothing is defined in absolution; definitely not at age 18, 20, 22, even 30, 40, 50, 60.
