Just to give you a bit of background on who I am… I’m nineteen and I live in Brisbane, Australia. I love the arts; I play piano, sing and dance. I love going to the theatre and travelling overseas. I have many goals and big dreams that I want to achieve in life, one being to make a difference in the world.
I’d love to say that I have an amazing story, one where I’ve overcome huge obstacles to accomplish all the things I have to date, because those kinds of stories always seem more interesting and believable, but the fact is I don’t. I’m just a person who is passionate about making sure people don’t give up on themselves and I’m someone who wants to see other people living a full and happy life – a life where people are taking chances on themselves and their possibilities… where people are daring to live!
Too often I see people who have big dreams and aspirations, dreams and aspirations that are quite achievable, give up on themselves. Why? People do this for a number of different reasons. It could be that:
they’re afraid of failing;
they’re scared of what other people might think of them and their judgments and criticisms;
they’re scared of their own success, they’re not sure of what life might look like when they go ahead and achieve great things; or
they might feel unworthy so never give their hopes and dreams a chance.
Now, I admit, I was once this kind of person – I was content to live a reasonable life because I was absolutely petrified of what other people would think of me if I did ‘this’ or ‘that’ and I was 110% terrified of failing and looking bad to others.
To this day, I still have my reservations; I have moments when the doubt creeps in and the fear of what people will think of me if I fail pops up… and these times are really scary because I find myself at a cross roads, trying to figure out whether I should ‘go for it’ or not.
Then, the strangest thing happens to me… Just when I’m about to give up on myself and my dreams, the doubtful voice in my head changes and starts to say things like:
“How will I feel if I don’t do this?”
“What will my life look like in ten years time if I give up on this now?”
“Will I be where I truly want to be?”
“Will I be happy and content or will I be bitter and regretful?”
Just when I’m about to ‘throw in the towel’, I start to dare… I dare to dream and I dare to believe in myself and what I am capable of doing.
One such moment where I found myself at ‘the cross roads’, was only last year after I broke up with my boyfriend of three years. Now you might be reading this and thinking, “here we go… another tragic love story…” but you’re wrong… It wasn’t a tragic love story; it was actually a gift in disguise.
Okay, so yeah, I was pretty messed up! Actually, that’s an understatement… I was pretty hysterical! At the time I felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest and I thought the sky was going to fall and my entire world was going to end (I’m not making this more dramatic for the sake of a good story… I was a major drama queen!). My whole world had been tipped upside down! I mean, I was eighteen years-old and I was no longer with the ‘love of my life’ nor was I going to live happily ever after. (I’ll make my point now and save you from all the theatrics!)
Basically, I was lost. How I thought my life would turn out and the plans I had made for myself and those around me no longer applied or existed.
So there I was, eighteen years-old, lost and at a cross roads. I found myself sitting by the bay in my car one day balling my eyes out – wondering what I was supposed to do with myself now. Then (like it happens in the movies), I felt a light bulb go off in my head!
In this moment I realised that I was not alone. I was not the only person in the world who felt heartbreak and experienced all these different emotions. I thought of my friends and saw how they too had to deal with a lot of internal and external pressures and how even though we may all come from different places and have different life experiences, fundamentally we’re all the same – we’re complex human beings.
After realising this, I came up with the idea of Positive Teen Talk and found purpose in my life again and discovered what I really want to do with my life and how I want to contribute to the happiness and success of other people and the world around us. I thought, “It would be great for teens to share their stories with each other! How great would it be to allow others to learn from each others’ experiences and create an encouraging, supportive and positive community?”
So with only a little bit of money in my bank account and a lot of faith, I created an online community and mentoring program for teenagers called Positive Teen Talk (www.positiveteentalk.com). Positive Teen Talk is all about Happy Teens, Worldly Dreams and our mission is to help teenagers build strong personal foundations for themselves (healthy self-esteem, confidence and self-love) so that they can feel confident in themselves and their abilities. I believe that when people are happy, they become excited about life and its possibilities and that’s what PTT is all about – showing teens how they can lead happy, healthy, successful and fulfilling lives.
I say, “let us make an impact on the teens of today so we can help them create successes for their tomorrows.”
Now don’t get the impression that I did all of this ‘just like that’… There were MANY times when I wanted to call it quits and give up! Times when I didn’t feel that anything was working and I felt like I was all alone in my quest for happiness for myself and for teens. But it was in these moments, times when I felt like everything was going to fall apart and when I was on the verge of breaking down, that I actually had breakthroughs and the greatest success.
The past year has been the biggest and scariest rollercoaster of my life! I’ve experienced extreme highs but also the deepest of lows, and I’ve found out that all I need to do to be successful for myself is bet on me!
Please don’t get the impression that I’m a gambler… I can barely play poker! What I mean is that I’ve learnt how to bet on myself and take chances… calculated risks… and I’ve learnt how to succeed at doing this!
Now, my secret recipe is actually pretty simple. When there’s something that I really want to do or achieve, all I do is this… I cook up a dare and I add it to my dream or goal, a dash of belief and a plan of action and Voilà! The result is a perfect recipe for success. You can do and be absolutely anything that you want to be. All you have to do is dare to be your possibilities.
The opportunities available to you and what you can do with your life are boundless... In fact, your possibilities are infinite! This is something that I’ve learnt over the past few years and I know it to be true because I have experienced the results of ‘daring’ and ‘betting on me’ in my own life…
All you have to do is believe in yourself and in your dreams! Faith is a mover of mountains. All you have to do is bet on yourself and take the plunge. You’ll be surprised at how successful you’ll be when you bet on yourself and dare to live.
Believe in yourself and in your dreams because you’re worth it!
All the best,
Jaleesa Pon
Positive Teen Talk
“Happy Teens, WorldlDreams”
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