There are at least four things i've learned at age 14. I’m still young and have so much to learn about life, but there are so many valuable things I have learned already. I have learned life lessons that have and will continue to change the way I think.

My very first life lesson my dad taught me. He told me that no matter how much you have, someone will always have less than you, and someone will always have more. At a younger age I didn’t entirely understand what he meant, but I’ve matured and I understand more. On your very worst days, someone will always have it harder. And on you very best days, someone will always have it easier, and that's just life.

Another thing I learned from my dad is that you're dealt some cards at birth and you just have to play them the best you can. Not everyone was given the best hand so you just have to do what you can and that there's not much you can do about it. There was one point in my life when I thought very poorly of myself, especially my looks. When my parents told me this I was a little upset at first but I soon realized they were right. These were the cards I was dealt and I’m gonna have to play with them whether I like it or not.

Something that has changed me is realizing that you never know what it’s like to go through something, until you've gone through it yourself. We watch movies where people die and fall in love and get hurt, and these movies and stories are made for you to feel what the characters feel. But more than often, you really don’t understand what it’s like. In movies when a loved one dies everyone starts immediately crying, but through these past 14 years I’ve realized that's not the case. When someone you love dies, you're almost numb. It’s like you know what you're supposed to think, but you just don’t. You're not sure exactly what to do because the only word you can use to describe the way your feeling is numb. This showed me that you really can’t understand what it's like to go through something, unless you’ve gone through it yourself.

The last thing and one of the most important things I've learned is that almost everything is temporary. Feelings, pain, happiness, crushes, shoes, food, money. It’s all temporary. Once I realized this I stopped worrying out about irrelevant things and put my energy into things that aren’t temporary or at least last longer. It's so much easier to not stress about those things and to put my focus towards my friends, and family, and grades.
I still have so much more to learn in the years to come. These 4 things have helped shape me and will continue to change my perception of life and the way I view things.