Dear Diary…

In Common Dear Diary… Today was just another one of those days; countless hours to just sit and think. Usually a soft murmur from the television fills the silence in the room all I ever hear now is how we “must all stay indoors” and how “there has been an addition to the total mortality toll”. For that exact reason, classical musical reverberates around the room and not the murmuring of the television. Life since I was diagnosed has not been the same and this virus only makes it harder. During this time of uncertainty where I perhaps feel more distant from everybody else than most, I prefer to think about all the things I have in common with teenagers my age or even just humanity as a whole and not my differences. I may have had to leave school and put my future on hold, losing all that I had achieved like the chance to go to the states for a Summer School due to symptoms such as an exasperating, unexplainable tiredness and loss of energy, abnormal bleeding and even the frequent loss of hair. I may have had to incorporate routinely visits to the hospital into my every day and even lose contact with my friends as we grew further apart, but I continue to live the same life everyone else is living. Just like those my age, I still enjoy going out, pampering myself even if it is just to admire myself in the mirror, spending hours online shopping only to decide not to purchase anything, meeting with friends, dancing around to my favourite music and most importantly spending time with my family. Just like all the similarities I share with others the same age as me, I also share many similarities with anyone of any gender, age, religion and race. We as humans seem to believe that we are the most powerful of all, that we control the way the world is run and the events that take place, but what we forget to acknowledge is God’s almighty power. Human beings have time and time again ignored the signs of nature and how we are merciless with the planet we call our home; nature is merciless on us and unforgiving independent of the life we lead. An illness may enter an ‘undeserving’ life, but humans are unable to prevent it from happening. A natural disaster may strike the poorest of humanity, but humans are unable to prevent it from happening. This helplessness felt in the bones of our species is shared by us all and there is nothing one can do about it. We may all lead different lifestyles with the smallest or the grandest of problems but at the end of the day we are simply insignificant creatures taking refuge in God’s greatest creation. We all have a blessing in common: the gift of life and we all have a goal in common: to live our lives as best as we can.

by Beatriz, Age 17

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