Just because a person doesn't talk about something doesn't mean it doesn't exist, that it isn't real. Tonight I'm going to talk about me, Annalisa, 29-years old, holder of a bachelor degree and two associates, massage therapist, cat lover, Christian missionary, woman. I believe that behind every person, there is a story; there is something that makes us who we are. There is something that drives us.
I believe that I'm not good enough. Don't mistake that as a low self-esteem. I simply believe that on a long-term basis, people deserve someone better than myself in their lives. Quite frankly, I don't know if any such person exists. I recognize that I am a human being, a really flawed human being.
I have had a lot of opportunities in my life, many of which I have taken advantage of. I had some pretty good parents as far as parents go. At the very least, they were supportive of my brother and I and kept us fed and clothed, clean and dry. (They're better than that, but we'll just leave that topic there.) And besides that, I was privileged. Maybe they didn't buy me those horses I wanted (and probably wouldn't have cared for properly), but they made sure that I had a good education, went to some camps, and was able to participate in extra-curricular activities. We had enough money for those things.
Not everyone has opportunities like I had. I know I'm not a real go-getter like some people. I won't retire by the age of 30. I don't have kids. I don't own my own house. I've never been in a newspaper or magazine let alone featured on the cover. (Hey, "Kids Say" in the local paper when I was 7 years old--or however old it was--probably doesn't count. Nor does the alumni update section of my high school alumni magazine.) And I recognize that there are people who deserve all of that but might never achieve it, and I feel guilty. I feel guilty for using resources to become this person with this amazingly incredible life that I don't feel I deserve.
And that's a large part of why I'm here. I'm looking for kids who push and push to become everything they want to be, everything they are capable of being. Kids who aren't afraid of taking the bull by the horns but aren't able to because they can't afford the bull. I'm looking for kids who will take the opportunities I was given and the privilege I was born with and will make their future better and brighter.
And it's pathetic. I look at the things I can do, the things I'm good at (or, rather, "the things at which I'm good," with grammar theoretically being one of them?), and I am shocked and disgusted with myself. I could be anything I put my mind to ("to which I put my mind"...yep, not going to care about dangling prepositions anymore tonight nor starting sentences with "And" and "But"), and I wonder why I'm not more. I wonder why I didn't become something I'm capable of becoming. No, I'm not calling myself a failure either.
I'm engaged. I almost called my fiance tonight and told him that everything is off. Instead I sent him a text that simply said "I miss you" (in English, which he isn't that good with). He is one of those people who isn't afraid to take the bull by the horns, and he's not afraid of working hard to buy the bull. And the idea of him being stuck with me for the rest of his life is something that scares me. But it's okay to be scared. We complement each other, not only him and I, but also the kids I work with and myself. He and the kids are incredible. I might have "all the answers," but they're the ones with the drive.
I'm not good enough. That's why God brought me to them and them to me. We have what each other needs.
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