It was a Saturday afternoon while I was sitting in my porch chair. Looking at some old photographs that my mother had given me, I began to recall fond memories of myself as a child and of my twin sister. The photographs gave me such amazement that my heart began to beat incessantly, my face bloomed with joy, and I sweetly smiled big. Then it came to my attention, the aroma of steak grilling on my neighbor's lawn, children playing in the street, the beats of music coming from people's stereos: it felt like summer was almost here. I hate to admit it, but to this day my twin has been my best friend. She is the other piece of me, and without my other piece I wouldn't be whole. I was like a duck who couldn't find his way home without his mother. My twin and I are not only identical in appearance, but also in our interests and aspirations. We both love doing the same things and we get along really well, but sometimes I get disappointed. I started slowly during my elementary school days. Every third week of the month we received our report card with updates on our progress in school. As usual, my sister impressed mom and dad with A's and B's. Even though I never excelled over my sister, I never thought of my sister as competition, but I knew I had to step up and show my parents who are good at something. I started facing such confusion about how I would just give up and not try to overcome my self worth. Instead of having the courage to defend myself, I would easily beat myself up, in moments when I am blamed, for mistakes I did not make. My sister always got credit for every little thing she did, and I wanted to show my parents that I could do... middle of paper... what they could be good at. With this, you need to give equal attention not only to the highest performing child, but also to the other lowest performing child. Learning from my experience has made me gain confidence in myself, knowing that I can achieve things and not think negatively about the things I can do. To others who feel neglected or lack self-confidence, I say don't let yourself down just because you are overshadowed by others and feel worthless. It's not the end of the world. Believing in yourself and finding something you can be good at will help you gain the confidence you need. It doesn't matter what others think, it's not about their progress, it's about yours. Sometimes, you have to challenge yourself, meet your fears and then set new boundaries and with that, others might start to pay enough attention and respect to where you are.