My heart beat in my chest and there was a slow and automatic oxygen intake, so ultimately it was a moment not unlike every other moment I’ve ever lived through.
But it was different.A best friend cried as she asked for my help. I was the first person she came to, the first person she trusted with her secret.
"I think I'm pregnant," came the words that afternoon at lunch.
As she shared her secret, I cried too.
I was a junior in high school - but time has dulled neither the memory or the lesson learned.
It's not your obvious lesson, that premarital sex is bad or that we can overcome poor choices.
Rather, it's a lesson that I continue to learn as I watch how our choices continue to pull us down different paths.
There was a time when my goals and choices mirrored hers, as much as hers mirrored mine.
But somewhere between barbie dolls and boyfriends, that began to change.
Her small differing choices lead her to larger ones, and soon her choices defined her.
She chooses today to live as she lived in high school, not really respecting herself enough to demand the treatment she deserves.
As one of the most beautiful and genuine people I know, I still hope that she'll apply
Universal Truth Number Twenty One
Never doubt your own worth.
As soon as you start doubting whether or not you're "good enough," As soon as you start thinking that he or she is "out of your league," you are doing yourself an injustice.
Nine-tenths of who we are, is who we think we are.
The rest of the world will perceive you as you see yourself.
