Have you ever taken a drastic step to turn your life around; done something so big that it literally alters your anatomy and changes your internal structure? I have. At the age of sixteen, I underwent a weight loss procedure called Gastric Bypass Surgery. My short life had started to crumble around me and my health had taken a nose-dive for the worse; I couldn’t live that way anymore. I took a flying leap, putting my health and my life into the hands of the doctors and went to sleep, hoping with all my heart that I’d awake to a new life, a life that I could live like a normal teenage girl.

I woke up dazzled by beeping machines, indicating that I was indeed still alive and breathing. I drifted back to sleep after talking to countless doctors. They all told me that surgery went fine; this was the beginning of my new life. I couldn’t wait to be released from the hospital and test out the new me.

Four long days of boring antiseptic views later, I was discharged. It was rough at home. I was so new to eating such tiny portions and constantly sipping at water to keep myself properly hydrated. It was one of the toughest things I think I’ve ever experienced. I had to re-learn to eat, turn off old habits and create entirely new ones at the age of sixteen. It was far more difficult than I could’ve imagined it to be before.

Eventually, I learned. I started to eat the toddler-sized portions and find that I was full. I began to drink fluids as if it was my second nature, like it was my second breath of oxygen. Most importantly, though, I found me, the new, more confident and much healthier me. It was like finding a blinding light that I never knew existed after searching aimlessly in the dark for years. It was enlightening.

It’s been over a year now and the ups and downs have mostly gone away as time slipped quickly past me. My body has been molded into someone new, someone I never knew was there to be released to the world. My attitude was my favorite change, though. I’ve become more confident, more outgoing, and even more willing to put myself in the lime light. I’ve learned to embrace life. Now, I live each day through the struggles and enhance my mind with the lessons that the world throws at me. Not everyone is going to like me, not everyone will dislike me either. Funnily enough, losing over 120 pounds really enforced the idea that it’s what’s on the inside that counts. It is our choices, the roles we play, the way that we live our lives that matter in the end. I’m happy I took those drastic steps. I’m glad and proud to say that I was brave enough to take the leap because today I’m much better off having done it and that’s what matters.