'My Imperfect Life': A teen-ager's sentiment

LORAINE CAJUCOM, the contributor, loves reading novels and watching movies. (You, too, can have your articles published here. Send them through e-mail to OurHappySchool@yahoo.com.)

PRESSURES, SELF-DOUBT and stressors--these are my constant companions in life.

People around me might be thinking that I always get what I wanted and that I have helpers galore to assist me in doing even the simplest household chore. But let me share you a part of me. The side of me that I rarely let people see. A slight glimpse in my innermost thought regarding my very imperfect life.

In the eighteen years I lived in this world, a part of me has always felt like I am a bird in a cage. Looking energetic and happy in my protected surrounding but still wanted to break free. Free to show the world the beauty that is inside of me. To be loved for who I am and not the lady they thought I was.

Some of you may think how ungrateful I am. Some may think I’m whining. But I just wanted people to understand through the experience I am sharing how hard it is to be stereotyped as a girl who has everything. To be judged unfairly. Not having real friends. Pressured to do great things all the time. To be criticized even for the most immaterial mistake you have committed.  Those situations are very hard to handle especially when you’re still a teenager ...

All I really wanted is to be given a chance to be heard so that people may understand the real me. To be remembered as a strong independent young lady who facesher problems and tries to learn from her mistakes. Someone who does good things despite her imperfections.

Rebellious, this is the word that is often associated to teenagers nowadays. I am not one of them. I always have been the responsible and dutiful daughter. I do what is right and not what I want. At a young age I learned that to make the people I love happy, I have to do things right. It doesn’t matter whether it’s perfectly done or not as long as it’s right. I believe this is the very reason why I felt like a caged bird, forever doing things that would please the people around me. I live a life where faith, love, responsibility and duty serve as my guiding lights.

I am living a life surrounded by people who expect me to do great things. Always succeeding and never failing. They think I am tough and strong. They see me as a lucky girl living a perfect life. Someone who can do everything in her own way and in her own time. I always wonder if they ever thought that there is no such thing as a perfect life.

By now, I know that some of you had discovered through my words the sadness I kept hidden in my innermost self. I don’t need pity. What I need is for all of you to understand, that there’s more to a person than what your eyes led you to believe. I urge all of you to find time to discover the beauty behind the facade because doing so would certainly make a DIFFERENCE.