The one about prejudice

Dear Josephine,

I always thought, I'd be the last one to be prejudiced against anyone else, but than I realised, that this isn't true. It's not, that I'm prejudiced against people, that look or think different from me. 

I am prejudiced against the girls in school, that have their neckline till their belly button and wear three layers of make up. The girls, that hook up with boys, that are five years older than them and have horrible grades. I always thought, that these girls don't care about anyone else than themselves and are not interested in anything else than their look or their boyfriends. But just the other day they've shown me, that I am wrong.

I was sitting in the cafeteria, eating my lunch. As usual I was sitting alone - I'm kind of a loner and the people, that claim themselves my friends are obviously way to cool to sit next to me. So I was eating alone and than there were three of this girls on the table next to me. I don't really noticed than, but than, one of them came over and was like: "Do you want to come over and eat with us?" and I was like: "What?!" I didn't say that straight into her face, but I was very surprised about this offer. And of cause I said yes, because it's not very funny to eat all on your own. And it isn't healthy either.

At this day, something changed inside my head. I always knew, that you can't tell people by the way they look and by their grades, but there always was this little voice that told me otherwise. Now it's gone. I'm not friends with this girls, not at all, but I've learned to accept them in the way they are. And that their "bitchy" look doesn't make them bad people. Even my "friends" didn't want to sit next to me, but they came over. And I appreciate that. If they want to wear tons of make up, than that's totally fine - if I don't have to be like them.

Dear Fine, I think the point, of what I want to tell you, is: There may (or may not) be some people, that seem crazy to you and you immediately think: I don't like them. That's totally okay. But never forget, that the fact, that you don't like them, doesn't make them bad people. Maybe they could be your best friends and you'll never know, because you say: "Naaaa, I don't want to talk to them." I hope, that you can at least try to treat everyone with the same high amount of respect, they deserve - no matter, if you are prejudiced against them or not.

Your sincerely, Elisabeth.

The one about new years resolutions

Dear Josephine,

tomorrow the new year begins and I'm sure you have made, as well as everybody else, some new year's resolutions. I've made some too - but I also have "new day resolutions", "new week resolutions" and "new month resolutions". Isn't it like that - that we always wait for something new to start a thing we always wanted? "From the next week on I'll eat only healthy food, no sweets and I'll work out at least once a day." Hahaha - no. There are people, who can do this. They wake up like: "Hey, I'm gonna start now." and then they jump out of bed and start working on their objectives. But I'm not like that and I'd guess many people are with me at this point. I can do this - I can wake up and start working and trying to reach my goals, but that will only last for a few hours or a week. And then I get back into my old routine. So why don't take the start of a new year as an opportunity to try again?

2015 is going to be a great year to me - hopefully. I'll travel to Rome for a week in spring and to London for a week in autumn. I'll spend my summer holidays with my family in the alps and with a bit of luck I'll go to the coast for the first time in about ten years too. I'll become "sweet sixteen", which means, that I'm legally allowed to drink and buy alcohol here in germany - which doesn't mean that I want to. But I could do it - in general. In 2015 I'll finish the tenth grade, which means, that I could leave school and start a teaching (but I still wanna graduate from high school, which means I'll have to stick around until twelfth grade). 5SOS, one of my favorite bands, are coming to three (!) towns in my country, which means, that I could go to my first proper concert - if I'd be brave enough. And with a bit of luck I could go to many other great concerts too, which means a lot to a music loving person like me.

I have a few resolutions for the new year:

1. I want to be courageous. I wanna stand up for my ideas and tell other people what I think about specific themes.
2. I wanna become more adventurous. The last years I spent mainly in my room or our garden. I never came along, when my friends made a trip to town or somewhere else. I've always been that slowpoke, whose answer to the question "Do you wanna come along with us?" is always "Nope." And I want to change this.
3. I want to become honest. Honest with myself and everyone else around me. I don't wanna to play a role and act, like I'm somebody else. I'm totally fine with myself (at least the most times) and I want to convince myself, that others don't have a problem with this person too.
4. I wanna be happy. Genuinely, intensely, consistently happy. I want to try my best to see the good things in every situation and not always be the nagging pessimist. I've experienced this feeling of almost complete happiness a few times in the last year and I want to feel it more often.
5. I don't want to let my anxiety control my life. I don't want to live in constant pain and be afraid to move, because I over think everything. I want to be more carefree.

Of couse there are things like "losing weight" and "living healthy" on my list too, but I generally think, that your mind is way more important than your body. Of couse I'm chubby and I'm not allowed to eat any sugar at all, because I've a high potential to get diabetes. I should do more sport and so on, but why not combine this with my objectives from above? What about a trip on the bike, a big ass Hike or a relaxes summer day with an hour of swimming? If you are happy with yourself and live in inner peace, everything else will come by itself. Thats, what I think.

Dear Fine, what are your new years resolutions?

Yours sincerely, Elisabeth.

The one about your own opinion

Dear Josephine,

as soon as you're in school it's all about your own opinion. "What do you think about this?", "What do you think about that?" and so on. In general I really like this. You share your ideas with others, think about problems and how to solve it. You learn about the world while your mind tells you, what you like, what you support and what you hate. But at one point there's this one person, that thinks, that you don't know anything about anything and that your opinion is generally wrong.
First of all: No opinion is wrong and at least not in general. Every opinion has it reasons and you have the right to think, what you want. Sometimes you might miss a point, but thats no excuse to call your opinion wrong, no matter what you think.
When I disagree with someone I never say, that their opinion is wrong. How could I know if my opinion isn't the one, which is wrong? Instead I accept the way they think and try to tell them the reasons for my ideas. Sometimes the people understand me and agree with me afterwards. Sometimes this people try their best to make me agree with their thoughts and it works. And sometimes we go different ways - or even the same - knowing, that we have different opinions and it's okay.
Dear Fine, never let anyone tell you, what you should think or not.

Yours sincerely, Elisabeth.