The Spagetti-Strap Tank With The Limited Too Tag

Do you ever have that shirt? You know, that shirt. That shirt that you will always get compliments in and people will just tell you how remarkable you look in it. That one article of clothing that once you put it on you are a million bucks? The power of the shirt is really phenomenal if you think about it. Because how amazing is the power of a compliment? A compliment can lift spirits, make a person look at you a different way, and even (in some rare circumstances) save a life. And then you have those times when you might not being wearing that shirt but you will act as though you are and people will still compliment you. And then there are those weeks, months, or years that go by where you feel like a million bucks. I had that once. It was great. People would just recognize my work and my talents left and right. Then I came to college.
Now let me just interrupt myself for a brief moment. I am not writing this entry to get sympathy, not at all. In fact, it is the complete opposite. For its not about the compliments, its about the person behind them. Compliments are tricky things to which you can either be addicted to or in terrible need of.
In this case it was the former rather than the latter. I had gone through my senior year riding high. Suddenly, I was the one getting the parts, the opportunities and not to mention the men. But when I went to college no one knew me. I couldn't expect for people to suddenly love me, and I didn't. But as I said before, I was addicted. I survived on anything I could get. But you knew that if worse comes to worse you could always put on that shirt and it would all be fine. The power would be yours again. Well imagine if the power from that shirt, had left you. Yeah sure, you had that shirt, and it still looked dashing on you. But as time goes, so does its fads and so did that brilliant power.
Now many of you are thinking "Aww I am so sorry! That shirt still looks brilliant on you." And that's just what you want them to say; because that is, in fact, a compliment. I found this out the hard way. I wanted that compliment back. I wanted that person to say "Hey don't worry. I'm still madly in love with that shirt." But thats not how the chips fell for me. Instead I had a good friend pull me out of my deep dark addiction and tell me the truth "Carolina, you kinda asked for this. That shirt, it went on without you and now its time for you to move on. Because, Carolina, that is life." Man was he right. Yes, he did take that power away from me. But power hungry is not the way to be, in fact, its pretty ugly. I know now that I can't survive off of a compliment, let alone a shirt. Because sometimes you have to take the less warm and fuzzy side. Plus, that side, in the long run, will be better than that one compliment of that one shirt in that one second that will one day lose its precious power.