With light, there is hope, life.
But without darkness, light cannot be seen.
There is no meaning for light without darkness.
So do not make fun of a person for their imperfections because those little things only make them shine brighter.
Don't feel like being good at something makes others feel worthless, you're just giving them something to strive for.
"You should be happy for them," is what they tell you, as you look at your perfect older sibling.
"You should be glad I cleaned up our reputation," says the middle child to the youngest. But the youngest feels as if they could never compare. This great example that the older ones set? This goal to strive for? It's out of reach for them. Their older siblings were everything that they are not. Athletic, great in academics, gifted musically, and happy. They can comprehend feelings just fine. They fit into society nicely. Making the youngest feel like the smudge of dirt on their pristine family reputation. The flaw. The imperfection.
So the youngest strives to do their best. But when the older siblings have set the expectations to perfection, how could the younger ever stand out. Being perfect for them would be normal, expected. So they are just unnoticeable.
The ones who do badly are rewarded greatly for doing what's expected once, but for you who always follows the rules, goes above and beyond every time? Who puts their utmost effort into every task? You are given those words. Over and over again. But do they really matter? "You did great." "An A, again." "Good job."
You get put in a group with those who don't care an won't do anything, but if one person does all of the work, then you both get a deduction on your score. The teacher just tells you to figure it out, but you can't. Don't they see that if you don't do this perfectly, you will be overshadowed by your siblings once more? They are always so great, and you are just you. Nothing more. Nothing outstanding. Nothing fantastically overwhelming.
You drown in self doubt, but the world moves on. When are you going to see that in the long run, this was not a game, where whoever has the most points wins. This was not some competition. No, life is a race, and "the first one to fall asleep loses. The first one to fall asleep wins. The race stops at the start, and the finish line is where it begins. So this time, first one to lose wins."
-Shane Koyczan-
-__--__-__--__-__--__-__--__-__--__-__--__-
The original audio for the video up top belongs to Shane Koyczan and the animation belongs to S1L3NTK1LL3R JAY
This is the link to it if you want it: https://youtu.be/WqAwjMcMyUw
I do not own it, I do not claim to own it.

I don't know how life is supposed to work, but I guess this is as close as I am getting.
-Flame-