Originally Posted by
Andante 
You owe it to yourself to choose to take whatever actions you can that may contribute to your happiness even if the deck is stacked against you.
There's a reason the Serenity Prayer is so prominent in addiction recovery circles: have the serenity to accept the things I can't change, and the courage to change the things I can.
It's prom season. Every spring, I'm reminded of the fact that I never went to a prom. One of my faults is that I have a hard time letting go of old hurts. I was flat-chested, near-sighted, and socially awkward. Not a good combination. One day recently, I remembered more about high school. I remembered Kim, as near-sighted and flat chested as I was. She studied Vogue magazine and re-created the outfits. If no one else in our tiny town was wearing gauchos and midi-skirts, Kim didn't care. She wore them, fearlessly.
And there was Abby, who wanted to be a cheerleader. To say she was uncoordinated would be an understatement. But she did round up a head that could conceivably be our mascot. She approached the faculty advisor, and made a deal: if she sewed the rest of the animal costume, she could be the mascot. That's what she did.
Kim and Abby weren't smarter than I was. Their families weren't more wealthy, their parents weren't more supportive. They chose to do what they could to make their own lives more interesting. (Empowerment wasn't a thing, back in the Seventies) That I didn't choose that route - that's kind of on me.
I am glad that at least around here, all kids are welcome at the prom, whether they have dates of not. It wasn't so 40 years ago.