Every day I can spot someone with cracked-ashy lips; they constantly lick the pink pigments of their lips to turn them white. I hate seeing ashy lips. It’s a visual drawback and I feel so disgusted. Chapped lips are cracked, rough, and unpresentable and used to be a metaphor for my life. There was once a time I felt as if my life had those same attributes due to the adversities I’ve encountered.
Some children dream of seeing their parents grow old together and never split up. Well, my dream shattered. In December of my sophomore year in high school my parent’s relationship cracked. My mother stayed in Chicago while my father resided in New York. At first when I heard this news I was stunned. I remember tears washing down my cheeks like a furious stream over boulders. My life began to slowly crack due to the divorce. The divorce felt like bitter cold winds throbbing at my chapped lips. I felt lonely because I missed the comfort of my father. Depression began to take control; I didn’t bother completing homework, and I ditched class. Meanwhile, I tried interacting with my parents, to get their perspectives, but their responses would repel like magnets, which, made me feel even sadder. It seemed like whenever I licked the creases of my chapped lips I endured more pain. In addition, I felt powerless, because I thought I would be able to fix the issue, but all I felt was an intense burning sensation in my lips.
I was losing connection with my parents. I didn’t want them to be involved in my life anymore, and it was becoming rough. I began developing bad traits such as being disrespectful and ungrateful for the things in my life. These traits lingered with me and affected me socially and academically. I lost friends, and my grades plummeted. My personality became unpresentable, just like chapped lips.
Months after the divorce, instead of gaining acceptance of the situation I grew angrier with my parents. While time flew by, I prayed asking God to reunite my parents back together. I also watched reality shows dealing with divorce among teens. I then began to realize that I need to accept life as it was, and that everything happens for a reason. Also, I was now able to understand that my parents’ problems were theirs and not mine. By doing so, I was able to grow up and let go of the past.
I applied lip balm over my chapped lips. My lips then over time became smooth, healed, and presentable. Just like with chapped lips, time, attention, and comforting salve healed and helped me recuperate. Having the opportunity to replenish my chapped lips with this ointment helped me handle my adversity. From this I gained maturity and confidence. My life went back gradually because of the lip balm, which were “confidence and time.” It was my inner strength and the passage of time that provided the balm for me, once I’ve discovered it was there. The relationship with my parents and friends healed. Also, my life began smoothing out and my grades were looking better. Finally, I was able to readjust myself as being presentable. Being able to overcome this challenge in my life gave me potency for the newer obstacles I will encounter. For those situations, it will become an additional balm to my once chapped life.