Y’all may not know this, but my sister and I are pretty much total opposites. She’s quite a bit more adventurous than I am; she takes much bigger risks than I even consider taking. In a word, Jess is just ballsier than I am. I’m the safe, cautious one, and my sister is the fun, up-for-anything one.
I’m a perfectionist, a control freak, and a people pleaser. I’m also pretty darn stubborn and contrary, so I don’t respond well to peer pressure. I want people to be happy, but if being happy means pushing something on me, you can suck it. That’s basically how my mind operates.
One of my sister’s greatest traits is that she makes mistakes and actually learns from them. One of mine is that I learn from other people’s mistakes. I’m really practical — I won’t buy something I don’t absolutely need or can’t use. I won’t go out because I know I have to sleep. You get the idea. — and I’ve learned the value of thinking before I act or speak. (The speaking part is a bit more difficult. I’m prone to word vomit.) It’s good because I don’t generally make bad decisions; I play it safe and do the responsible thing, even if it’s the less fun thing, which it usually is because being responsible? Is not about being fun. It’s bad because I have so few good stories of stupid things I’ve done.
However, the bad decisions I have made are almost entirely related to boys. In fact, of the boys with whom I have had any relationship, NOT A ONE OF THEM was actually a good decision. Heads up to all you teenage girls: Making out just because is never the right way to go, especially if you’ve got a conscience that works over time like mine does.
That’s not to say all of my boy-related decisions have been bad, though. To be fair, one of the best decisions I’ve ever made was boy-related. Want to guess what it was? If you said breaking up with Kris, you would be correct. I am more grateful with each passing day that it’s over, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss being friends with him a tiny bit. Rekindling that friendship now would definitely not be a worthwhile endeavor, not to mention impractical. Didn’t I say something about not having things I don’t absolutely need or can’t use?
