(15, WA, USA) Anonymous - The Cartwheel

Society looks at you and decides that it knows everything about you. With one glance, people may think they can tell you what you think, know you better than you know yourself, and believe you don’t belong just because you don’t fit their ideals. When I was younger, I wasn’t allowed to play with my friends on the playground because I couldn’t do a cartwheel. To play with the cool kids, you HAD to know how to do a cartwheel. I used to try and try, but I could never do it. I was smart, artistic, and fast. Still, they decided that I couldn’t join them because I couldn’t do a single cartwheel. They overlooked my better qualities because of one characteristic they didn’t like. That one fault defined me throughout my childhood. Because I lacked the ability to do a cartwheel, I was stupid, I was weird, and I couldn’t hang out with my own friends.

As I grew older, the pressure to be able to do this, and to be like that, was even stronger. If you don’t look like this, you’re weird. If you are too loud, you are annoying. If you are too quiet, you’re weird. As I’ve grown both physically and mentally, truthfully, nothing much has changed. This mindset was set up through generations of people who have gone through the same as I have. Those who were frowned upon for a silly little cartwheel now frown upon others for not having the most ideal qualities. You should never let others or even yourself define you because of things that you cannot do. You can be so much more if you reflect on your own accomplishments, which makes you even stronger. Because now, I know how to do a cartwheel.