It was the middle of my favorite season: spring. Summer was around the corner. Flowers were starting to blossom, and trees were beginning to grow. The sun was constantly regaling us. Going for walks was a must during these times of the year. So I decided to ignore everything in my life and go for a walk. For some reason, my eyes were closed, and my headphones were on. In short, I was enjoying myself until something felt really weird. It was like trampling a banana peel. I screamed and pulled my foot back with overwhelming fear. I was almost going to crush all of the little creatures lying in front of me. They looked like train lagoons as they followed each other in a rhyme. Even their colors and markings were the same. Our residence was near the forest, so I would see different species every time I went for a walk, but these hairy little creatures were unfamiliar. After some brainstorming, analyzing, and acting like an entomologist; I took pictures of them and continued walking.
When I got home and typed their descriptions in the search bar, their names popped up on the screen: "Anaphe Reticulata," hairy caterpillars. During these times of the year, they would follow a leader in order to migrate and pupate. The leader of this train would leave a silken thread to make it easier for others to find it.
These four words bang in my head, "What are my values?" A tricky question for all people. I had spent a tremendous amount of time, figuring out my values. Despite all my time, only one thing helped me find my answer: the caterpillar train. Like always, nature had all of the answers. The caterpillar train reminded me of us. We are the leader caterpillar of our lives and the thread we leave behind, represents our values.
The thread you leave behind is the impression you leave on people when you act according to the core values that you hold within you. People who compromise and connect their ideas to yours follow you in your life. That is how you build yourself a train that will follow you for the rest of your life.
How have I built "my train” until now? There are three main valuable principles I follow: being loyal, faking until making, and following my passions.
My parents and my sister were the first ones who followed my thread and never left. I am going to be honest; I was not always the best kid and caused a lot of trouble. However, despite all that, my parents have been loyal and have supported me. I grew up acknowledging the importance of creating strong bonds and sticking to them.
The most practical value of mine is to fake it until I make it. I would not be the debate president today if I did not find the courage (which took me a lot of time to find) to join the club, or if I would not be able to express myself in public and find my best friends, who have a significant place in my train if I was not confident (inside of me was having a panic attack) enough to speak.
"Why do you always think your dreams will come true?" Your dreams only come true when you believe that they are going to come true. This value is not for my present train, it is for the future one. Since they are invisible to others, only I can follow the thread of this value. This is the thread that the leader follows and makes plans according to. My dreams have driven me to where I am today, withstanding that it will continue this way.
In order to find our own pupate place, we should be in rhyme with our values. In life, there will be times when we are going to follow others or make others follow us. Whichever position it may be, holding our values in the corner of our heads will help us find our way. And I believe I will find my place to pupate by creating my own thread with my values.
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