Things I want my daughter to know.

Life isn't fair. It never has been and it never will be.

Do not judge your success based on others. Everyone is at different points in their lives.

Give people a chance. Don't judge too quickly. If I judged to quickly, I would have never given your father a chance.. and then you would have never been born.

Choose your attitude and you choose how each day will be. Some days we wake up and we are just in a grumpy mood. We take that mood out on others and then they are grumpy as well. When we feel that way, we need to take a moment for ourselves and think "today I WANT to be happy", and guess what? We will be. YOU are the only person in charge of your feelings. That happiness will show to others and you will make the world a little brighter.

Great grandma Webster figured out early in life that she was not as pretty as the other girls and instead of sitting alone and feeling sorry for herself she decided then and there that she wanted to be the person everyone wanted to be friends with. She went on to be the homecoming queen, cheerleading captain and lots of other fun things. To this day she is one of the happiest people I know. No matter what you look like on the outside, always let your inner beauty shine. On a side note, I really don't think great grandma dodger is ugly by any means. The point of this story was to show you that you decide on the person you want to be, what you look like outside does not matter. Let people be drawn to your inner light and bright personality.

Suicide is NEVER the answer. If you ever feel like this life is not worth it. TALK TO SOMEONE. It's ok to feel down and have bad days. Not every day is great, that's part of being alive.  We would never know happiness without sadness. Keep an eye out for those around you that may be suffering from depression or feeling left out. Help them have someone to talk to and try to cheer them up. When people get that low, they will not reach out for help. It is your job to be aware and to help them. It seems that lately this topic has been brought up in my life more then I ever want to admit. I have had two distant cousins attempt to kill themselves. Once succeeded and the other is still alive but very much disfigured and now has a very rough life ahead of him. One that he created for himself because of his thoughtless action.