LIFE

Hey girl! I’m so sorry to hear about your broken backbone, scoliosis and knee. I’m also sorry about your mom. I know you feel alone and lost, but there are some things you can do to help you start feeling better about life.


You may think no one understands what you are going through, but I bet you all of your friends will listen if you talk to them. They may not have experienced the horrible loss of a parent or a severely inured knee, but maybe they’ve experienced something else that has made them feel alone and misunderstood. Your friends will probably try their hardest to understand what you are going through, but the only way that can happen is if you talk to them about it.


So, you still have a few months until you can dance again, but that doesn’t mean you have to forget all about it. Go to dance practice and encourage your friends from dance. Have a mini-chat session after practice and talk about how excited you are to come back. If you stay connected with your friends from dance, and the studio itself, you will feel like dance is still a big part of your life even though you aren’t participating in it yet.

I played varsity volleyball in high school and sprained my ankle so bad I couldn’t play for two weeks (which is a lifetime in a fall sport because I missed four games!) but I still went to all of the practices and all of the games. Staying as an active participant of my team made me feel better about not being able to play. Without going, I probably would have gotten depressed about my situation and given up completely.


When things get lonely and you get sad, find something to cheer you up. For me, that’s reading a good book. For you, it could be watching movies, knitting a scarf, scrapbooking or making bracelets. Everyone gets sad and lonely at times. You have to learn what makes you happy so you can fight those depressed feelings.


The passing of your mom is probably hard on everyone in your family. However, keeping quiet and not talking about it isn’t healthy, so get together with your dad, your brother or your grandma and talk about your mom. You might laugh, you might cry or you might just sit and remember, but you will be doing it with someone who understands what you are going through.

At one point or another everyone feels as though no one understands them. It’s important to remember that there are people who understand, and if they don’t, they most likely want to try and help. So, talk about it and don’t keep everything inside.

Good luck,

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