Admire

Two minutes left, three crossroads ahead, come on, don't be late, don't be late... oh teacher please! Dont' close the gate!

Miss contest chair, dear toastmaters. That was an ordinary day when I was 14 years old. I lived in the far east of the city while my school was in the far west. Every day I felt like a female version of Monk Tang going to the west for knowledge, the only difference - I was riding a bicycle instead of a white dragon horse.

Living far from school is reeeeally not very friendly to a teenager girl. In spring, the ice and snow were melting and my trousers were full of mud spots. In summer, the sunshine was bright and my face was sweaty red. In Autumn, the wind was strong and my hair was out of control. In winter, the white world was so beautiful, (pause) falling down on the ice was so painful.

At that time, the only person I admired was my friend Lily. She lived right next to the school. 5 minutes by foot. She always arrived earlier than me, sitting there quietly like a peaceful princess. No mud prots, no crazy hair no sweaty face, just sitting there quietly just like a peaceful princess.

One day, after a Chinese writing class, Lily and I went to the washroom together. Lily suddenly said:"Caroline you know what? I admire you so much as you live far away from school."

"What? Are you kidding me?"

"No! You see, you got two hours on the way everyday, that's your freedom! You know what's my life? Teacher, Parents, Parents, Teacher. Bored to death, that's why I cannot write a single word while you've already filled the whole page."

Oh my god! she was right. Living far away also brought me so many nice experiences especially the way back home. Tender willows and blooming flowers on the way, happy laughters and cheerful voices on the way. My mind was free and I can even write a poem everyday.

When I told this to my mom, she smiled:"You admired her while she was admiring you, instead of admiring others, why not choose to focus on the positive?"

10 years later, I graduated and joined an international IT company. Finally I became a female version of, programer. Together with my classmate Anna.

After 2 days of excitment. I knew what's a programer's real life - facing a black and white screen, coding, overtiming, overtiming, coding, day by day. While I was struggling and talking to myself "It's too difficult for me, should I quit, can I quit..", three months later, Anna came to me:"Caroline, I quit, I cannot bear the job anymore, I'm leaving, take care!" One week later, I saw Anna's wechat moment: blue sky, white clouds, beautiful seaside, Anna and her parents, with a comment "Hello, San Ya."

I admired her so much for her courage and her rich dad. I didn't have a rich dad, instead, I had a dad seriously ill in bed.

A child without umbrellas should learn to run by herself. I worked as a programer for 3 years and these were the darkest years of my whole life.

After three years, I got a new position of Quality Assurance, and after 2 more years I was promoted to project manager. All the dark days were gone and finally I stepped into the field I dreamed of.

At our class reunion party, I met Anna again. She sat next to me and we talked a lot.

I got to know that after her San Ya trip, Anna’s father helped her find an easy job and she's been working there ever since.

After several glasses of beer, Anna suddenly said:"Caroline, you know what? I admired you so much. You had the courage to face the difficulties and to pursue your dream, while I was like a tortoise, escaping all the time. Now I'm doing the repeated silly work everyday, I even don't know what's the meaning there, but I still dare not change..."

Oh my god, my mom's words echoed in my ears:"You admired her while she was admiring you, instead of admiring others, why not choose to focus on the positive?"

My dear friends, have you ever complained about your current life and admired others? Other people always have something we don't have - higher position, better appearance, richer dad.

We admire each other through the wechat moments, but actually, no one is leading an easy life.

Instead of admiring others, we can also choose to focus on the positive.

We may not have a high pisition but a happy family, without shining appearance but a lot of true friends, no rich dad but maybe a wise mom.

My dear friends, next time, when you encounter difficulties in life, could you please say this together with me:"This time, I choose to focus on the positive."