by Maci Bookout
When I found out I was pregnant at sixteen, the list of challenges I needed to overcome was almost too overwhelming to think about. Any time I had tried to take a mental survey of the things I needed to change and accomplish if I wanted a happy, fulfilling life for myself and my child, my brain just fizzled out and shut down. The scale of everything I had to do was just incomprehensible. So instead of trying to comprehend it, I just looked straight ahead and kept putting one foot in front of the other. It wasn’t until I checked off the last item on my Teen Mom To Do List that I was able to turn around and look back over what I had accomplished.
Nothing good comes easy. There may be days when fortune seems to fall in your lap, and you look around and can’t figure out how you got so lucky. There may be times when you try your best and can’t come up with anything but frustration and failure. But at the end of the day, what you get out of your life depends on what you put into it. The more you take care of the good things in your life, the longer they stick around and the better they become. The more you persevere in the face of doubt and discouragement, the stronger you become. The harder you work for the things you want, the more they mean to you when you find them.
Whenever I look back over the peaks, valleys, and battlefields I crossed to get where I wanted to be, I feel calm, confident, and grateful for the gifts I found along the way. I’ll never know where exactly my life would have gone if I’d taken any other path. But I do know that the journey pushed me to become the Maci I want to be. The struggles fade into the past. But the strength and sense of self I earned by overcoming them will help me for the rest of my life.
The sun is shining on the road ahead. That could change in the blink of an eye. If it does, I’ll handle it. But as long as the skies are calm, I’ll be making the most of it with my family, my friends, and my children.
I proved to myself that I can be bulletproof. Now, it’s time to be happy.
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Table of Contents
DEDICATION
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1:
CHAPTER 2:
CHAPTER 3:
CHAPTER 4:
CHAPTER 5:
CHAPTER 6:
CHAPTER 7:
CHAPTER 8:
CHAPTER 9:
CHAPTER 10:
CHAPTER 11:
CHAPTER 12:
CHAPTER 13:
CHAPTER 14:
CHAPTER 15:
CHAPTER 16:
CHAPTER 17:
CHAPTER 18:
CHAPTER 19:
CHAPTER 20:
CHAPTER 21:
CHAPTER 22:
CHAPTER 23:
CHAPTER 24: