The Advice Column

During my long, confusing, strange life, I have encountered much advice. From my parents and grandparents, guidance counselors and teachers, Delilah and Dr.Phil, I have had a great input of life strategies. Some of my personal favorites include "Don't be afraid to have lunch by yourself," and, "Never stay home from the beach to clean the house, because tomorrow it might rain." Advice is, to put it simply, a direction in which to go. Some, such as the lunch one, reflect how one might encounter loneliness or unwanted independence, but not to change because of it. The one about cleaning the house, however, tells you to do what you desire to do.
One piece of advice in particular is my favorite, though. I read it on a message board a few months ago. It said, "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten."
During my life, I have changed many times. These changes have been both minor, occasional adjustments and drastic, frequent changes. During my sophomore-junior summer, I experienced a particularly drastic transformation.
My life before the "reconnection" was less than normal. I would go to West Haven every day after school. Skipping my homework, hanging out with high-school dropouts, "chillen" with the druggies, I had the illusion that I was cool. I would hang out with these people because I didn't believe I could live up to the expectations of reality. I would not put in the effort required to get decent grades in school. My parents would constantly yell at me for not living up to their expectations. My parents cared, while my friends' parents did not. I wanted to be like them. They were badass, living on the streets, drugging up, escaping the pressures of life.
I've got to say though, my mind must have been messed up. I would get boyfriends who did not care about me. I would try and make friends with people who did not like me because I lived in a rich neighborhood and had a good family. I had a severe problem with my self-image, though and that connected me with these people. I believed that if I wanted to be in their group, I had to do what they did, speak as they spoke, and act like they acted. I numbed myself from reality by self-mutilation. I would dress in black, loose clothing because I lacked the confidence to wear anything else. I despised my life.
Somewhere around the summer of sophomore year, I came to the realization that it didn't always have to be this way. I really didn't have to act like these losers to be liked. I found that, like other people, I could seek help from somebody. Life wasn't supposed to be the bad parts of life, but the good ones. Complaining about where you aren't getting isn't going to get you anywhere.
I started to pull myself away from the drain of life which is the West Haven crew. I gradually stopped wearing black clothing and pulled myself up to the real world. Real people deal with real situations, and I had to too. I wanted to go to college, have my parents be proud of having me as their daughter. Change was the only thing that was going to get me there. My grades improved, I gradually gained my parents' trust back. I recognized later that my life wasn't really all that bad.
If I had not made this crucial change in my life, disaster could have struck. If I had not drastically improved my grades in my junior year, I would have a significantly lower grade point average, decreasing the likelihood of my getting into a good college after high school. Change, in this case, was a very good decision.
Note: I have since concluded that virtually everybody has a much worse life than I had/have :-)
The idea of change has been recurrent throughout history, the world and everything else. If there had been no change there would not have been evolution, growth, originality, and countless other things.
To learn and to grow require stretching of the mind. If you stick to what you already know, you will never learn anything. Being an artist, I need the ability to stretch the limits of my artistic capabilities. My style must learn and adapt to the growth of my mind. The quote especially comes in here (To reiterate: " If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten") because If do not try new brush strokes, different line shapes and different fonts I would always get what I have always gotten.
I have inferred from this piece of advice and life in general that the idea of change is necessary to the development of society. If you life requires change, as mine did, it can be very beneficial. Repetition, routines and habits are usually good things in daily life. Not all developments are good though. Modification for the worse such as a death in the family or drastic weight loss can be very detrimental to a person.
THE END.