{"id":2907,"date":"2019-05-10T13:26:27","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T12:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/?p=2907"},"modified":"2023-02-14T12:48:17","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T12:48:17","slug":"what-makes-us-all-thrive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\/","title":{"rendered":"What makes us all thrive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

This poem, written by Abbey (21), won first prize in our ‘Write Speak Share’ writing competition<\/a>. The theme for the competition was ‘Your Biggest Achievement’. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have done many things in my life, I\u2019ve danced and I have sang, but it\u2019s pointless reading about those things without knowing how it began…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a child my attachments were strained, my mother and I grew apart, my childhood was very vague and yet I still gave all my heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My father was never there, I\u2019ve spent my life with strangers, I am learning the reality of some of life\u2019s true dangers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My life turned sour from six years old, the world was mine to roam and despite the struggles that I faced, I’ve learned what makes a home. I had to build on what I had, two black bags that were barely full, two t-shirts, a teddy and a broken toy, for a child, a life so dull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve grown up way too fast. In school I stood so tall, absorbing everything around me but still knowing nothing at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I lived in 10 houses with my mother, some were broken and some great, each and every one of them have added to my fate. It\u2019s been a confusing life so far, everything I knew has now changed, I spent the majority of my childhood feeling cut off and estranged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have stayed with 11 foster families, all so different. Many places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been assigned 14 social workers, all too busy. Many faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have put my trust in dangerous places, I\u2019ve made mistakes and I fell, I\u2019ve climbed back up to the top of the ladder, now I thrive to do so well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may not be your typical achievement, but it comes straight from the heart. All of the things I have overcome have helped me make a start. Now I think before I act, I take care with what I say and I pull myself up off the ground no matter the kind of day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have lost everything in my life so far, both of my parents are dead. My biggest achievement so far is that I get out of bed, I wake up to earn money just so that I can have breath, I work 37 hours a week whilst being suffocated by death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m learning to drive, I’m helping young people in care, I’m working full time, I like styling my hair, I skateboard to work, I write poetry all the time, I\u2019ve met Dr Who and I\u2019ll continue to climb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I work for the council, I love learning about the mind, I\u2019m a part of therapy group but that\u2019s not how I am defined! I help others with their struggles, even though mine are too much. I show warmth and love but still flinch from a touch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I now have a partner, two cats and a flat, how absurd is that? From a lost lonely little girl, I am now full grown, still figuring things out but no longer made of stone. I\u2019ve been twisted by life, way too much to bear, but if there\u2019s one thing I\u2019ve learnt it’s that life isn’t fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hurdles I have reached are what push me to succeed, there are people out in the world that can’t write or read! I\u2019ll never forget where I\u2019ve come from, it\u2019s my tragedy but my story, a life that once was a burden is now a new found glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The struggles we face daily are what make us all strive, we\u2019re beautiful walking statements of ‘I’M HURT BUT STILL ALIVE’.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This poem, written by Abbey (21), won first prize in our ‘Write Speak Share’ writing competition. The theme for the competition was ‘Your Biggest Achievement’.  I have done many things in my life, I\u2019ve danced and I have sang, but it\u2019s pointless reading about those things without knowing how it began… As a child my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":2930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-your-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"What makes us all thrive - IMO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What makes us all thrive - IMO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This poem, written by Abbey (21), won first prize in our ‘Write Speak Share’ writing competition. The theme for the competition was ‘Your Biggest Achievement’.  I have done many things in my life, I\u2019ve danced and I have sang, but it\u2019s pointless reading about those things without knowing how it began… As a child my […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"In My Opinion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-10T12:26:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-14T12:48:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/05\/iStock-905508166_super.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"727\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"408\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"What makes us all thrive\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-10T12:26:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-14T12:48:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":628,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/wpuploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/iStock-905508166_super.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Your stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\\\/\",\"name\":\"What makes us all thrive - IMO\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/wpuploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/iStock-905508166_super.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-10T12:26:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-14T12:48:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/your-stories\\\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/wpuploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/iStock-905508166_super.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/wpuploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/iStock-905508166_super.jpg\",\"width\":727,\"height\":408,\"caption\":\"SSUCv3H4sIAAAAAAAEAH1RyW7DIBS8V+o\\\/WJyDhFkM7lf00FvVw2Oxg+qYyMapoij\\\/XvAiccqNmWF4M7zH+1tVIQ2zN+ijemSUsB+GZY4TRB\\\/GRJPTzjvrY5g8DJnM3HNV0BwhLrOb8xM7ZSC6Pt3dyN1\\\/zPnecHUIq5gcSUKfLlwHh06FMi86K+ignqcX\\\/i9nzmMYQn9\\\/\\\/cZ2+DmqQe9Gc18LFMUmNzjYiu2ZUU01CC441ppQzCWTWHHicENpx0XHqXT2mIxkDZZqWWNaNzXmoClWWkosW2EMNappQK6Rthzo9y+66VL+481bFwoMi\\\/Wh+NJbMDBkAytiXydv\\\/NgXthDPbirXk\\\/YbLgUxhrjWRFt2ZNP+MqxZ3ZCUnhFGlOKMC3TsPJhfb8us3maHFMQoYgTWzLapswSsOkowWNICQCdoa1Pn5z\\\/uOGl2ewIAAA==\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/\",\"name\":\"IMO\",\"description\":\"IMO is a voice for teenagers in care and for care leavers. Somewhere you can share stories, experiences and achievements, get and give advice, and find loads of great free stuff!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What makes us all thrive - IMO","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"What makes us all thrive - IMO","og_description":"This poem, written by Abbey (21), won first prize in our ‘Write Speak Share’ writing competition. The theme for the competition was ‘Your Biggest Achievement’.  I have done many things in my life, I\u2019ve danced and I have sang, but it\u2019s pointless reading about those things without knowing how it began… As a child my […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\/","og_site_name":"In My Opinion","article_published_time":"2019-05-10T12:26:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-14T12:48:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":727,"height":408,"url":"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/05\/iStock-905508166_super.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"What makes us all thrive","datePublished":"2019-05-10T12:26:27+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-14T12:48:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\/"},"wordCount":628,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/05\/iStock-905508166_super.jpg","articleSection":["Your stories"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\/","url":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\/","name":"What makes us all thrive - IMO","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/05\/iStock-905508166_super.jpg","datePublished":"2019-05-10T12:26:27+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-14T12:48:17+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/what-makes-us-all-thrive\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/05\/iStock-905508166_super.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/05\/iStock-905508166_super.jpg","width":727,"height":408,"caption":"SSUCv3H4sIAAAAAAAEAH1RyW7DIBS8V+o\/WJyDhFkM7lf00FvVw2Oxg+qYyMapoij\/XvAiccqNmWF4M7zH+1tVIQ2zN+ijemSUsB+GZY4TRB\/GRJPTzjvrY5g8DJnM3HNV0BwhLrOb8xM7ZSC6Pt3dyN1\/zPnecHUIq5gcSUKfLlwHh06FMi86K+ignqcX\/i9nzmMYQn9\/\/cZ2+DmqQe9Gc18LFMUmNzjYiu2ZUU01CC441ppQzCWTWHHicENpx0XHqXT2mIxkDZZqWWNaNzXmoClWWkosW2EMNappQK6Rthzo9y+66VL+481bFwoMi\/Wh+NJbMDBkAytiXydv\/NgXthDPbirXk\/YbLgUxhrjWRFt2ZNP+MqxZ3ZCUnhFGlOKMC3TsPJhfb8us3maHFMQoYgTWzLapswSsOkowWNICQCdoa1Pn5z\/uOGl2ewIAAA=="},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/","name":"IMO","description":"IMO is a voice for teenagers in care and for care leavers. Somewhere you can share stories, experiences and achievements, get and give advice, and find loads of great free stuff!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2907"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5947,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2907\/revisions\/5947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}