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[marsy]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 1.2;"]how to survive being alone: guide to being happy despite loneliness

STEP ONE: feeling alone is the first step to being alone, and realizing this is the first step to surviving it. you don't know you're really alone until your self-esteem is so thin that it's barely there, and it's opened your eyes so wide that you finally realize you've been alone the whole time--in crowded areas, while your friends talk around you and over you but never with you or at you, and you've become the listener and never the speaker, the caregiver and never the the one being taken care of (no matter how sick you are).

STEP TWO: realize that you have to care for yourself if nobody else is going to. you have to pick yourself back up on your own when you fall, no matter how far or how hard. it's difficult, and sometimes you won't be able to so quickly, but this is the most important step. you have to take care of yourself. pick yourself up and take a shower. brush your teeth. look in the mirror, then close your eyes and take a deep breath.

STEP THREE: look at yourself in the mirror when you pass one. look at yourself in the windows of the buildings you pass by, or classrooms, or wherever you go with windows and mirrors. style your hair how you want it, wear the clothes you want to wear, and hold your head up high. smile at your reflection, make silly faces, and tell yourself that you can do this and that you never needed anyone before, so you don't need anyone now.

STEP FOUR: sit on the edge of your bed with your phone in your hand. look at your phone. unlock it. play a game, clear your head. take a shower. come back to your phone and delete the messages from weeks ago, months ago, and especially years ago. you don't need them anymore. they're not important. and stop expecting people to message you, because you know they aren't going to. stop stressing yourself over something that isn't going to happen.

STEP FIVE: breathe. your friend messaged you. answer them, but don't put anything into it that you're not feeling. don't be enthusiastic if they're not enthusiastic about you. don't try so hard if they never tried for you. it's not worth the sadness and the anger and the exhaustion.

STEP SIX: realize that you're not alone. you'll meet someone who is passionate about you and has some of the same interests, who will talk to you and let you talk to them and respond with more than a single word. leave the bad friends alone, don't answer them if you can't (don't force yourself to cater to their every need and don't fall for their manipulative faux kindness just so they can suck the life out of you again).

STEP SEVEN: give yourself the patience you always gave your friends. socializing can be exhausting, and it's okay to be alone sometimes. it's okay to feel jealous, sad, angry--it's okay to feel things when you're alone. find a way an outlet, something for you to do when you're alone if you can't talk to someone else about it. wander without worrying about getting lost, because sometimes getting lost is what it takes to become happy.

[marsy]

http://www.bearbonesrp.com/index.php?topic=22223.0
new dump (':

[marsy]

[align=center][div style="width: 375px; text-align: justify; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 1.2;"]tw: death mention , mention of drugs , abuse mention

benjamin wadsworth , the miscreant . your mom and dad took you in when you were just a toddler , and you immediately brought chaos into their calm and white-picket-fence world . despite the chaos you brought , they immediately fell in love , and decided to adopt you weeks after fostering you . your wild personality seemed to calm for awhile , becoming a studious bookworm who just wanted to be left alone with a few close friends , but after mom died when you were twelve , your last words to her being " i hate you ! " after a fight , you went off the rails . from stealing and pickpocketing to dealing , you became the miscreant ; the runt nobody wanted to mess with . dad made you get a job working at the amusement park your uncle worked for after finding your stash , and you honestly don't hate it as much as you thought you would ( not that you'd ever admit that ) .

cody christian , the mediator . you've been neglected by your parents , your siblings , peers , and past boyfriends ; but most of all , you've neglected yourself . you take on everyone's problems and try to help as best as you can , and you have since you were a little too young to be so wise . you're a matilda , except you don't have powers and you're pretty popular in school because of your intelligence ( once people found out you wouldn't let them cheat off of you , they'd become colder ) and your easy nature ( too trusting , too forgiving ) and , later on , your appearance ( being seen with someone considered attracted is a fast way for anyone to climb the social ladder ) . when you finally broke down and screamed at your parents , they told you to shut up and , if you hated it so much there , to just leave . so you did , and you found yourself applying for a job at an amusement park for cash to pay for your own necessities .

aron piper , the lone fox . calling you a loner might be a bit of a stretch , but you've always preferred to be alone . growing up in a house where screaming matches between parents were all too common , and where you were constantly terrorized by your brother and having it written off as " boys being boys , brother being a brother " made you value your quiet alone time more than some others ( because quiet was a rare commodity ) . you learned early on how to lie to cops and lie to neighbors and peers about why your house was so loud , and why you were always sporting bruises , and why you got that concussion in sixth grade . lying became too easy , and so did taking any insult and injury with empty eyes and an apathetic smile . the amusement park had been recommended to you from a friend of a friend of a cousin -- or , something like that . your memory doesn't serve you too well, anymore . forgetting became a little too easy , too .

alex fitzalan , the prodigy . you were always meant for something greater . your parents were rich , and so were their parents and their parents before them , stemming from a long line of successful people , from lawyers to doctors to actors and actresses . they were always hard on you , forcing nothing but studying on you . you know five different languages fluently , now , and you told your great aunt , who would try her best to take you away to do something fun for once , that you wanted to disappear in those five languages .  you had no friends because you never went out , and you were exhausted like a middle-aged man working in an office by the time you were eight . you can sing , you can dance , you can paint , and you can recite every shakespearean play word for word , and it took away your passion for the arts . you don't know how to smile without faking it . your aunt convinced your parents to let you stay with her for the summer , and you immediately asked to get a job ( with a resounding " of course " from your aunt ) . the amusement park was the perfect place .

[marsy]

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