Transforming Before I Fall

As a teenager in high school my life was overcome with my dance schedule practices, workouts, performances, concerts, and competitions. However, as circumstance and time allowed, my sister and I would go to the bookstore closest to our home and select a book we both had interest in reading. We both decided on a book called Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. Unfortunately, while reading I pulled out similarities between myself and the main character, Samantha Kingston. Her character is selfish and egocentric, and her acts are based on her main motivation to remain popular in her high school. Reading and seeing this fictional character from the outside seemed to show me the semblance I had with her, and I recognized that I was just as self-absorbed as she was but in my own dance realm.

Samantha Kingston dies tragically early on in the book, but then has the opportunity to relive her last day seven times. One of the days she recognizes that she had neglected her family in her climb for high school recognition and devotes that day to building family relationships. With her I decided to strengthen my own family relationships that I had also neglected while attaining the dance recognition I had fought for. Alongside Sam I found myself with my family doing the things we loved to do together again.  

Samantha also undergoes other transformations in her own attitude and personality during the book, and her priorities are renovated into more selfless ambitions. She starts to live for others and less for herself. I am immensely grateful I did not have to die and live the same day multiple times to be able to appreciate the miracle of transforming ourselves and each day coming closer to our divine potential. However like Sam I did have to sacrifice personal desires to become who I needed to be.  I now have each day to grab a hold of and take advantage of to remold and purify myself.

Fortunately I saw my own ambitions and priorities change to be less self-centered and egotistic. Now I can seize each day and become a better daughter, student, and most importantly daughter of God!