I’m in a good place in my life

I truly am. It hits me, every so often, that there isn’t much I’d rather be doing instead of what’s happening right now. I don’t have many regrets. I don’t spend ages locking myself in my bedroom and sobbing about what a mess my life’s become. I don’t have a lot of things I want to hide from people. Sure, there’s things I wish I had but those are just some additional luxuries (for example, I wish I had a phone whose backlight actually worked). I’m finally in the process of applying to college; I’m just about to finish off my high school careers; I have exams around the corner but I’m not overly nervous as I was with my IGCSEs; but most importantly, right this moment, I feel good about how I look.

And I can’t help but think this’ll be a permanent trend from here on out.

Those who know me know that I’ve never had the best self-esteem. I don’t think of myself as intelligent, or talented. And I certainly never liked the way I looked save for a few occasions.

Now, it’s the opposite and in a lot of respects, it’s because I’ve been given so many occasions to do things I love. I’m sorry I keep coming back to the whole “talking is my passion!” routine, but it’s true. Being called a good debater, being called intelligent, being called pretty – it’s shallow, but compliments do help more than you’d think.

I went paintballing with my friends yesterday and, let me tell you, it was probably one of the most fun days I’ve ever had. I may have blue and purple fingers, but the throbbing pain just makes me smile. As this generation is prone to, the album with our pictures from yesterday has been put up and I can’t help but notice with glee the absence of any repulsion towards pictures of myself.

Save for this one –

But come on. That’s just terrible. I think I’m allowed to laugh in dazed horror at that.

Otherwise, that album makes me feel nothing but good things and it’s a damn pleasant change from not wanting to look at my pictures at all.

Seriously though, don’t shy away from paying compliments to people. Whether it be your significant other, your friend, your family, or even that tired-looking cashier attending to you at Geant, a compliment can make anyone feel better. Heck, if you’re too shy to say anything, just smile! Believe me, it’s the best thing you could do in a city like Dubai where it seems like everyone’s suppressed under the gloom of the corporate world.

Just remember, there’s a fine line between being genuine and coming across as a stalker. Don’t compliment if you don’t mean it and don’t be upset if the person you’re complimenting doesn’t fall at your feet with a declaration of life-long servitude.

End of.

In other news…

So my school is having it’s 2012 debates soon and the topics we’re going to be debating are pretty awesome. I’m in the Year 12 team with three other incredible debaters and, honestly, the Year 10 and 11 teams are fantastic too. I’m pretty psyched for this.

Year 10: “Animal testing should be bannedl” against the motion.
Year 11: “Literature is more important to Society than science;” for the motion

And if we get to debate against the teachers, “Freedom of speech should be absolute and unrestricted;” against the motion.

I’ll probably be harking on about the topics over the next couple of weeks because I have such feelings about all of them, particularly the Literature vs. Science debate. I’m surprised at how incendiary these topics actually are; but that makes them all the more fun to debate!