Earlier this year Chanie Gorkin, an 11th grader from Brooklyn, was asked to write a poem about her worst day ever as part of a school assignment. This creative seventeen-year-old fulfilled the assignment, but did so much more in the process. Her poem, found below, has gone viral and reached millions of people in the last six months. It reminds us that much of what we experience in our life depends on the attitude and perspective we bring to all that we encounter.
Read this poem from top to bottom to get one perspective. Next, read it from bottom to top and you will get a completely different perspective. Then share it with others to help spread this young woman's positive attitude and gift of writing with others.
Today was the absolute worst day ever
And don't try to convince me that
There's something good in every day
Because, when you take a closer look,
This world is a pretty evil place.
Even if
Some goodness does shine through once in a while
Satisfaction and happiness don't last.
And it's not true that
It's all in the mind and heart
Because
True happiness can be obtained
Only if one's surroundings are good
It's not true that good exists
I'm sure you can agree that
The reality
Creates
My attitude
It's all beyond my control
And you'll never in a million years hear me say that
Today was a good day
Now read from bottom to top.