Eleanor and Park Post-Reading #3

"Yesterday happens..."

This quote means a lot. While in the book, this refers to Eleanor going back to a broken home, and having many problems, it also very relatable to real life. This quote talks about the dark days we have as humans. The days that call for us just to lay down and give up. We all have dark times, where we question our meaning, as well as our worth. We feel like there just isn't any point, like we'll never get out of the valleys. Even when we do, the pain can stay with us for eternities.

For me, the "yesterday" was the month of December. My best friend fell on dark times, and I couldn't help. She always felt unneeded and unimportant, I had no idea. It wasn't until after she left that I found out how she felt and by that point, it was too late. That was the beginning of December, and the rest of the month followed suit. I did not have "friends". I didn't trust anyone, never told anyone how I felt. Even after I met people like Tanner, I didn't tell them for a long time. And even when I had their support, even when they knew, they didn't really care. No one could really help me, until I met a girl named Kayla. She helped me, when she barely knew me. All she knew was that I was in turmoil and that's all she cared about, was fixing that. She told me to live with the regret. To let it shape me for better.

We all have dark days. We all have our Decembers, or yesterdays, our pasts. These are inescapable, but how these shape us, that's up to us. Cruel men are the ones who gave up hope and stopped trying.  Eleanor was fragile, and overemotional at times as a result. But as humans, we should allow our dark days to shape us for better. The moments when we choose to stand up when life tells us to sit down, when we speak out as life tells us to shut up. There's always reasons to keep fighting, to not give up. Become a better person because of the guilt and pain.