Dear Lily:

I am fine other than my foot still not completely healed, I wonder if it ever will be. It is freezing outside and the snow is frozen which means walking outside is dangerous.

My favorite line in your recent post is this: “I want to try my best to make my life better”.

Regarding the person in the dormitory who didn’t respond to you when you said hello, assuming she heard you, it could be that she didn’t value you enough to say hello back. This is the reason why when I was a teenager, other teenagers ignored me a whole lot, they didn’t think I was important enough to include in their conversations or to acknowledge otherwise. Sad but I believe, true.

I wish everyone valued everyone, but this is not the reality we live in. Lots of people interact only with people they think are… important enough and they don’t bother with people they don’t think are important.

This is one reason why you should treat your own self as important in the context of interacting with others. Don’t put yourself down when interacting with others, treat yourself respectfully, refer to yourself respectfully, that will encourage others to value you.

Teenagers ignored me not because I was of no  value. This person didn’t say hello to you not because you were of no value. You and I have as much value as anyone else! Yet, some people will not value us. To increase the chances that others will value us, better express to them that you value yourself in the context of interacting with others. Makes sense to you?

anita