They always say “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”, but there is never a thought what if the there is not enough sugar to make the lemonade…

So now you are just stuck in reverse…

Instead of looking for ways to make the lemonade, you are stuck looking for the sugar to make the lemonade sweeter.

You gather all your strength but the sugarcane isn’t willing to be cultivated… everything is just not moving.

Then you are forced to think, “Why don’t I just eat the lemons that life is giving…I will get used to them over time”, and sure you will get used to the lemons.

You eat the lemons, your face shows their sourness, but as you keep eating them, you realize that ‘Wait…They are not as bad anymore’.

Its not because the lemons are now sweeter…its because you got used to the sourness of “life”.

How many times have we chased shine instead of substance?

Seeing others being very succussful and happy with their lives makes us wonder “What do I have” or “What am I doing wrong thats not getting me happy or be successful”, and the truth behing those who look successful is someone who struggles the whole night looking for sustainable survival, they look happy with their life because they know that they have worked for their success.

We just dont see it!

We go ahead and look for shortcuts to become as successfull as them. We forget that what comes in a short time also goes away in a short time. Those shortcuts dont teach us the importance of what you are about to gain. They dont teach us the true value of what your hands yearn for. Shortcuts dont show us the struggle or let alone teach us the real life lessons we need to sustain ourselves in the long run.

There are some lessons that are only taught from struggle and struggle alone. The process of success comes with coins of life lessons that we collects through out the whole process, and by he end of it, we’d be having a lot of life lessons that show us the real value of ourselves.

We may have gained the success in a small period of time but really, ‘Are you happy with what you have long term?’

The success may be nice externally, but internally, that may not be the case.

The idea of easy success is getting more fed unto us because of what we consume on social media. We see influencers showing their best moments in life but we forget that:

Behind the glitters and shine is struggle

Some of those luxurious lifestyles are built on debt, and if you try comparing yourself to what you see on social media, you might end up feeling betrayed because what you saw on the reels is not actually real.

Reel does not equal to real!

The reels might show high paying jobs but behind that amazing job is stress, burnout and there may be lack of personal life.

Behind the scenes of a beautiful scene is not the same as what is shown in the scene.

The rawness of life is structured upon happiness but there will always be some moments of struggle, and if you happen to compare yourself to one side life: the comparison is not fair for you. You are just betraying yourself.

Glitter is temporary but gold is forever!

You cannot just go to the ground and pick the gold from the ground like a normal stone, you need to struggle first and dig out with all your energy to get that gold.

Same with life, success is not something you can just snap your fingers and get it, you need to break a sweat and let some tears out :then you can get it, unless someone else worked to get for you!

Don’t always chase what shines the brightest because in the end it not about which shines more, but its which one has more value and lasts forever.

Remember glitters and shine may impress the world, but gold proves its value overtime!

NOT ALL THAT GLITTERS IS GOLD was originally published in Women Write on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Are words really everything?

Even eyes tell a story, right? But do they tell a better story than words themself?

If I’m left without words, then how can I express myself?

• Actions
• Eyes
• Silence?

Well, they say:

Silence is louder than words

If a writer remains silent, are the readers going to understand the storyline?

Maybe or Maybe not!

Well, actually, if words fall short, you can express yourself, you can tell your story, but there is a possibility that the one you are sharing with might not understand you….But so long as you get the burden off your shoulders.

Even mute people express themself, not that they don’t have words — they do! But expressing those words is difficult for them.

If your words fall short, don’t be scared to express yourself in whichever way you want. Take a paper and a pen, and watch the words express you for you.

Words are shy; if you force them to express you, they will not come. They need gentleness, they need a little push. But they don’t need to be forced; it will cause some confusion for them and cause you to pay the penalty.

As a writer, I love expressing myself through words. I recently learnt that every time I try to write something, I have to calm myself so that my words reach a flow state, and if they fall short, then I rest my brain until I feel the words getting comfortable expressing themself only then will I continue. My words don’t like being forced to come out because they are shy, and if I force them to come out, I pay the penalty because they can embarrass me, and no one is going to blame my words; they blame me….

I love my words, and I know we all do, and we try to prevent words from falling short by learning new vocab: “adding to the family….”

Words are amazing, and if they fall short, express yourself in some other way, but if they become shy and nervous, don’t force them, assure them — yes, assure you words. :))

Writers, We’d love to have you!!! Join us and share your stories. Let’s Publish it.

No Time — Publication

ALL MY WORDS FALL SHORT was originally published in No Time on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Success is something that just doesn’t grow without watering, nurturing and first and important, planting!

I’m a very young but grown in ambition!

I’m constantly thinking about how I can be a successful, respectful and yielded young woman without taking short-cuts and of course I see a lot of young woman do: so I seek motivation from them as well.

However, while I’m on my path to success, I have rules that I follow now and will in the future!

I like to keep this in my mind:

Everyone’s success is different…because we are all different.

Some people’s success come easy, some come hard and that okay. Which ever path my successs want to meet me in, I will gladly accept with open arms because I know it’s going to drag some life lessons along!

So I would like to take note that:

1. Not everything that glitters or shines is gold. On my way to success, I don’t want to just embrace anything that I see shining, because sometimes those temptations CAN block the road easily!
2. Appreciation First before asking for more. Before I become successful, I want to learn to appreciate what I have because that is what built me into what I am right now before I get successful. I don’t want to abandon the me in me while asking God for more. I want to appreciate first, show my thankfulness, then ask. Appeciation is the real key to growth and abundance!
3. Being giving person first. Giving to other peope builds in a very generous being, even when you don’t have too much, you have something and keeping it all to yourself..I see it as selfishness (Forgive me).. But I want to learn to lend a hand, and just be that anonymous someone that values their surroundings including other people or just life in general.
4. Keep in mind that success is not just about bank cards, degrees and all such things, but real success is growth in love, empathy and personal well being!

These lessons are like my the shoes that will help me reach my success and I will make sure to always keep them alongside me no matter what because to me success is being a proper woman who sees richness in life without gold but the sparks in everyday life and all the little memories that come with life.

Most importantly, I wish to be rich in love towards other people because I am loved both by God Almighty and the beings he created and that is more than enough for me: )

Writers, bring your chaos, your charm, and your half-baked drafts — Beyond Lines is ready for the beautiful mess. Let’s publish it!

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MY FIRST KEY TO SUCCESS was originally published in Beyond Lines on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

THE PIECES WE KEPT

CHAPTER 1 — THE CRACKS

No one asked how she was doing; no one asked how she felt. No one asked what her jokes really meant. And maybe that’s why I noticed the silence before she even spoke. We were just hanging out at the table in the library that is near the window as usual, Jake was on his phone laughing like a maniac until he turned to Mara to show her the funny video and as usual, Mara just acted nonchalant like she wasn’t interested at all. That seriously made Jake feel very uncomfortable and embarrassed, and he went back to his phone, and Mara just went back to doing her homework.

While all this was happening, Sofia was unusually silent and thirty minutes before she just made a serious joke about how everyone would miss her if she were gone because we all acted nonchalant, except Jake, to impress the cool kids, and we all just laughed like nothing serious. After that joke, Sofia was very quiet, and it was kind of disturbing at first, but I just went back to reading the book I have read like a million times … Goshhhh I love Sherlock Holmes.

After the library lesson, we went straight to the other lessons, and nothing unusual happened. Just some seniors bullying Jake about his height, and Jake laughing it off like they were not bullying him for his biggest insecurity.

Jake: “You know, when I turn 18, I’m going to have a height-increasing surgery because no girl will ever like me with this height….”

Sofia: “For real, you need one, you literally look like a hobbit, especially in those baggy jeans and hoodies you wear everyday”

Mara and I just acted like we heard nothing, even when Sofia rubbed the salt on Jake’s wounds. I always hated the teachers for not acting up when a student was literally being bullied in front of her in her own class…why is everyone acting so nonchalant….

We finished the lesson, and we all went home. So, Sofia and I go home together on foot while Jake and Mara go together because they live in the same neighbourhood. We parted ways from our other friends, and then it was just Sofy and me. We were walking slowly, then Sofy just mentioned:

“I don’t feel like going home early today, can I stop by your house just for today?”

“Sure, you can always come by, but why don’t you want to go home early today, aren’t you always so excited to go home early?”, I asked.

She paused for a while and she didn’t say anything, then she stopped walking and looked me straight into my eye, I understood everything then. We continued walking and neither of us saidanything until we arrived at my house. We then went straight to my room, but my parents never allowed me to close my door when I have a girl home…I know why, though!

We entered my room and Sofia quickly asked to close the door since she wanted to tell me something important. I told her I can’t because my parents forbade me from doing so, but she insisted a lot and so I asked my mom and she told me I can only close it for exactly 3 mins. If I don’t, then she will tell my dad to completely remove the door.

We closed the door and Sofia began telling me stuff I always knew, but she didn’t know that I knew already.

Sofia: “So, Jake, you might have noticed how I like teasing Jake these days”

“Yeeaaah”, I said in a hesitant tone,

“Yeah, so I kind of like Jake now, but I told him a few days ago and he told me that he is not in a proper headspace now because he doesn’t like me”

“Ohhh, so…what are you thinking, are you fine with it, what’s going to happen?”

“Well, yeah, I’m not fine obviously, but I’m trying to accept it, and he just told me that we’ll remain friends and continue joking like always, and we won’t tell anyone about this.”

“So why are you telling me?”, I asked — concerned

“It’s because Jake told Mara and they agreed they won’t tell anyone, but Mara told me, so now I’m telling you because I kind of figured out you knew”

“Oh, okay, does Mara know you told me?”

“No, she doesn’t, and please, please, I’m begging you, don’t tell anyone I told you…I trust you with all my heart with this!” Sofy said in a pleading, sad manner

“Sure, I promise I won’t,” I assured her while patting her back to show support.

“Oh yeah and our closed-door time is up, let’s open it before my mom gets mad at me” I said.

We then opened the door, and as usual when she came over to my house, we started playing some games on my Xbox and reading for 1hour of playing until she decided to go back home.

Today was very unusual though because she seemed very sad but not because of Jake, but I noticed it was because of something else and she didn’t want to go back home, but then I accompanied her to her house late evening up to her gate because her dad never wanted anyone to visit her to their house…that was strange but it’s not like anyone cared because her parents were already strange people in the neighborhood already.

The following day at school was very weird. When Jake, Mara and I walked in, everyone was staring at us like we were ghosts. That was very disturbing. The teachers came up to us and asked us if everything was okay with us.

We all became suspicious because suddenly, the teachers cared about us for the first time, and they looked concerned about us.

Mara — in a harsh, annoyed voice: “Well, this is a first now that you are now concerned about us after years of being here and being bullied and all that you did was ignore us even in class while teaching…just wow, everyone here is double-faced.”

Jake: “It’s okay Mara, let her explain what she wants to say to us, maybe she realized her mistakes and wants to apologize to us.”

Mara: “Well she should be quick because we have mourning to do, now that our friend Sofy is gone…”

Teacher: “Wait, you knew that Sofy was found dead behind her house?”

Mara: “of course, we know, we are her friends, the only people that actually care about her.”

There was now a lot of tension between the teacher and us, especially with Mara. I didn’t say anything to the teacher because all I could think about was how Sofia acted yesterday, she was acting all different out and then in the morning when I went to pick her from her home, her parents for the first time hugged me and told me how we — Sofy’s friends were all she cared about, but she was found all bloody and not breathing in their back yard outside and all she seemed was nothing but happy while dead. That’s when I knew that she was struggling, but she tried to tell me, and I listened to only half of her story about Jake.

The conversation between the teacher and Mara continued until we were asked to go to the counselor’s office, and we were accompanied by some detectives to the office. We reached the office, and while we were there, everyone who was inside: the counselor, the teachers who knew us, the principal, the detectives, Mara, Jake, and Sofy’s parents were all themselves. All they mentioned was:

“Sofia is dead. We never saw it coming.”

I didn’t say it out loud, but deep down, I knew that wasn’t true.

Note — this is an unedited version, very raw and there may be spelling and grammar errors!

feel free to comment and give advice….This is my first book:))))

I have noticed a lot of people say they are thankful, but their actions and expressions say otherwise.

Gratitude is not only about saying that “Thank you” but its also about showing that you are thankful through what you do, say and show after giving thanks.

You can say that you are grateful but what you show me is gonna make me think you are not grateful at all.

At 7 years old, we showed our grattitude to the new toys through playing with them… We showed that we were grateful for our clothes by crying and begging to wear them. That actually shows the we cared, and we were grateful for whatever was gifted to us.

Thats gratitude.

Of course the way we show our gratitude changes over time.

As a teenager, I’m begining to see the ‘Behind the scenes’ of the sacrifices others have to go through for me..

And to show my gratitude, I have to show that I actually care and I am grateful for those sacrifices through my actions.. A thank you to those sacrifices is not enough to be honest..

A Right comes with responsibility, and those responsibilities are what reflects our gratitude.

You begin understanding that your rights aren’t because you have it all, but because of other’s hardwork and some people don’t even receive their rights because they have no one to help them with those..

Learn to be grateful for the things you have because its easy to get everything taken from you.

Its truly important to show gratitude to what your hands have received and what your eyes haven’t seen to how your hands received it.

Gratitude is not just a ‘thank you’, its the appeciation, the honoring and the reflection through actions of that thank you!

How do you show your gratitude?

comment below😁

Writers, bring your chaos, your charm, and your half-baked drafts — Beyond Lines is ready for the beautiful mess. Let’s publish it!

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GRATITUDE was originally published in Beyond Lines on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Some people want to be saved, but they don’t need to be saved

There is a difference between wanting to and needing to.

When you are miserable, you will try by all means to help yourself because help from others might take too much time before you can be saved.

When you are drowing, the first thing you think is ‘I need to breathe so I need to be out first’ then comes, yay, i cab breath but i cant hold on for too long, let me call out for help’ thats being miserable and needing the help.

But it seems like a lot of us these days fall and remain on the floor wanting some help when we know for sure we can help ourselves get up…..

We become too comfortable with any pain that comes in our way

We loose whatever we have just to gain sympathy from people instead of just using those resources to actually solve the problems.

We claim everything is going wrong in our lives but actually we know deep down in our lives we have never tried to actually solve our problems…

Pain is actually too comfortable to the point where it becomes to addictive.

I creates a mini, clear, smooth and soft road for us to just keep complaining and keep asking for help when we can help ourselves.

Asking for help is not a bad thing but if we can sacrifice everything we have just to get help, why don’t we first sacrifise all we have trying to find a solution ourselves then seek help from others if we actually have zero solutions?

All our lives, we have been taught that: A teacher teaches you ways you can solve a problem then if a struggle comes your way, attempt to solve the problem yourself first then raise your hand if you struggle with solving it so the teacher can help you… same goes for life.

Every lesson you have been taught since you were conceived, use that for you daily life no matter how old you are.

Life lessons never expire, but probably our brain does if we don’t use it.

Fun fact, the lesser you use your brain, the smaller it becomes. Yessss, if you don’t use your brain it shrinks.

Now imagine, if you have never solved a problem your whole life, or even attempted to, how small your brain would be, just because you were too comforatable in the pain waiting for someone to solve them problems for you..

Even your critical thinking skills are terrible!

So actually, now will you wait for someone to tell you that what you are doing is wrong, even if you know it, or will you try to stop then if if gets hard to stop, you seek help? or mehh, you’ll pass on that???

Writers, bring your chaos, your charm, and your half-baked drafts — Beyond Lines is ready for the beautiful mess. Let’s publish it!

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YOU ARE NOT MISERABLE was originally published in Beyond Lines on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Back then when I started writing, I never thought I would ever pass five followers.

But today, I stand very happy and grateful.

Everytime I open my medium and see the “40 followers” on my page I feel like: wooww nothing is going into void. Someone is reading my articles, they resonate with 40 people…

When I sleep, I think about having 40 poeple listening to me talk in a stadium, thats a lot of people to be honest.

When I started writing, I always wanted to quit because, it felf like no one was even attempting to look at my articles, but I am soo glad I kept going, I always wished to have my articles resonate with atleast five people, but it seems they stayed with a lot more than that.

Who knew that, just sitting infront of a laptop or phone or whatever and just writing about what you think of everyday, just writing about improving ourselves, personal reflected and some random thoughts could earn you quite a big audience?.. cuz I never did until now: )

Today, whatever I write comes with a lesson to me that I’m not just writing, but I am helping someone and my self too. Every article I write, helps me improve my self in many ways one could imagine. Every piece teaches me about writing, connecting my self with others and learning new stuff about my self I never knew.

And to be honest, it makes me feel proud, motivated, and even a little nervous sometimes when I want to write. I never expected that my words could reach anyone beyond my small circle, and yet here they are, resonating with readers I’ve never met.

To me writing has become more than just a hobby.

Its helping me grow a lot, and looking ahead, I hope to keep growing as a writer. I want to keep exploring many new topics and challenge my self even deeper than ever. I hope to reach even more people who might need encouragement, inspiration, self development or just someone to relate to.

I know I still have a long way to go, but seeing more than just a handful of people care about my thoughts reminds me that the effort is worth it. Every follower, every comment, every read is proof that my words matter, and that’s a feeling I will never take for granted…: )

Writers, bring your chaos, your charm, and your half-baked drafts — Beyond Lines is ready for the beautiful mess. Let’s publish it!

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WE FINALLY REACHED 40 FOLLOWERS ON MEDIUM was originally published in Beyond Lines on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As a teen, I have made so many mistakes, and I have witnessed many of my peers make them too.

Most of these mistakes are very, or should I say “extremely”, STUPID.

WHY DO WE ACTUALLY MAKE THESE MISTAKES IF WE KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING???

well…..its because:

Teens make mistakes because we have FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). We don’t want to feel like we are behind in life, at all.

We do what other teens do, like how a duckling does whatever any duck near it does. It’s not bad if we copy positive traits, however, it seems like we, as teens, see negatives as cool things without ever thinking it through…..(I’m sure you see where things are going to now..)

The mistakes we make are fun in the moment of doing so, but later in life, we realize that the mistakes we made years or even days back did not benefit us in any way. We notice that it might have changed our life till its not worth even looking at.

Some of our mistakes lead us to even horrible things like unaliving ourselves….WHICH IS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE ONE COULD MAKE IN THEIR LIFE…

ARE MISTAKES OKAY? LIKE ACTUALLYY??

UHMM……..

Mistakes are okay to make, but if we keep telling ourselves this every day, it might become inevitable not to make a mistake every day, which I wouldn’t personally call a mistake but A HABIT!

WE DON’T CREATE OUR OWN MISTAKES…WE COPY OTHER’S LIVES AND IT BECOMES A MISTAKE TO US!

• We see 6 or 7 teens have boyfriends, and all of a sudden we think we “need” one too...SEE NO THOUGHT INTO THAT. That’s how a mistake is made… why don’t we just sit, stare into the ceiling and think to ourselves Do I really need this right now?, If I have this, what am I gonna bring to the table? What am I gonna benefit from this that could change me or my life? Does this help me grow? and all that????? Why do we just dive into the vibe and realize later on, after everything and ask those questions when it’s already over, and there is no turning back?
• We go ahead and give ‘L’ behaviour towards others because we want to sound or look cool?…. Why not just be nice and give out some ‘W’s to the chat… that’sway more aura than bad behaviour!
• Why do we have those thoughts that make us feel horrible about our lives and later give our parents a real struggle, why not just feed positive energy to our brains and let the world be colorful and vibrant…..

Being a teen is not as difficult as textbooks or movies or even the internet make it seem like…Its just that we want to be included when WE DON’T NEED TO BE!!!

Being cool doesn’t matter if later in life you are gonna be regretting that coolness…

Stupid mistakes don’t define you, but sometimes they can mold you into what you might be like in the future…

Actually its not just teenagers that make those mistakes……rather its everyone.

As another teen who tries to avoid these kinds of stupid mistakes, let me give some advice that I follow:

1. Surround yourself with good people, you don’t need a lot of friends, even 1 true friend is enough… THE MORE IN THIS CASE IS NOT THE MERRIER…trust me!
2. When in Rome, don’t follow everything that the Romans do… some things just watch and go about with your day..
3. Enjoy the little moments, but don’t get lost in the ocean of joy; you never know where you’ll land
4. Live in the moment, but secure your future in between those moments…if you forget, the future might forget you too

With this, good luck as a teen, and I hope we don’t make too many of our stupid and unthoughtful mistakes, and we live a happy life with fewer regrets: ))))))

This is what I have been thinking of lately…: )))

Writers, bring your chaos, your charm, and your half-baked drafts — Beyond Lines is ready for the beautiful mess. Let’s publish it!

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STUPID MISTAKES THAT MOSTS TEENS MAKES was originally published in Beyond Lines on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Recently, I turned 17 on February 3rd. YAAY — GLORY TO GOD :)) — but now the excitement faded when I started reflecting, and I’m starting to notice that I’m very much behind in life… or at least I feel so.

Every day I’m at school, I feel like I’m not old enough to hang out in my group because I feel too young for my age, even though I may be one of the oldest…Not because they are unkind or anything bad, but it’s just that…..I see other 15–18 year olds being different from me. I try to brush it off because I know we are all different and we don’t have the same life, but then when I go on social media, I feel way worse. I feel childish, like I don’t put makeup on, I don’t get my nails done or anything, and I don’t even go out like how other teens do.

I don’t know if other 17-year-olds feel the same way, but I’m sure there are a few of us like this. well atleastt…..

It feels like life is already happening, and I’m still trying to figure out who I am, what I want, or what actually motivates me in the long run.

Every time I see teens being successful already before they turn 18, and here I am, “One year to adulthood,” and still not knowing what I actually want in life.

Before I turned 17, I thought everything was going to be different, but I think there is a checklist for teenhood, but maybe I missed the memo…..

You know, I used to think that when I finally became a teenager, I was going to become like the “stereotypical teenager”, like behaving like them, being rebellious, not because I wanted to, but because I thought “OH YEAH THAT HAS TO HAPPEN FOR SURE” , but its the opposite now…

SOMETIMES I WONDER, what’s it actually like to be a teenager…but surprise supriseee… I have been a teen for like 5 years now, and I still don’t know, I don’t feel like one…

I never had a “Phase,” they say… It was always like “oh wow, this is new, nice, I guess”……, but it was never like “Oh, these days Shayne is doing this or that, but it’s gonna pass because it’s just a phase”…I guess I should be happy about that?! YEAH I SHOULD BE — “patting myself on the back right now:).”

There are tons of stuff I haven’t tried yet as a teen, and some I don’t wanna try, but some make me feel like I’m behind in life, but I guess that’s okay because we never know what life has instilled for us.

I’m just gonna keep going and wait when I tell myself “YAY SHAYNE< NOW WE ARE MATURE< WE HAVE GROWN< WE KNOW WHAT WE WANT< WE KNOW WHO WE ARE.”

And I will keep telling myself..

Life is not about competing with your peers, because it is not a race, rather it is a growth journey, and we all have different growth rates:) — ME 17 YEAR OLD SHAYNE

No matter your age: tween, teen, twenties, forties, eighties, or whatever, just know it’s completely normal to feel behind in life, but tell yourself that you are YOU and not those people; enjoy your life before you ruin it in comparison, and JUST LOVE YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE ;-)

Writers, bring your chaos, your charm, and your half-baked drafts — Beyond Lines is ready for the beautiful mess. Let’s publish it!

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17 AND ALREADY FEELING BEHIND IN LIFE… was originally published in Beyond Lines on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.