First, let me begin by saying that in no way is waxing off half of your eyebrow enjoyable. It was about a week before spring break and my friends and I were going to Panama City Beach. I decided it was time to finally wax my eyebrows. It was halfway through the semester, and I decided it was time I start trying to keep up with female beauty standards and attempt to look hot for spring break, ya know? In case you're a guy, or just blessed with ridiculously great eyebrow genes, you have, more than likely, experienced the incredible pain that goes with waxing eyebrows, and you have probably payed a ridiculous amount for such a painful service. Me, being the brilliant and poor college student that I am, decided to just get the wax strips from TJ Maxx and do it myself. Let me just say, I was convinced that this was a true stroke of genius -- until I actually did it.

I leaned over my vanity. I wanted to get as close to the mirror as I possibly could so that I would be able to see where I was applying the wax and the strip. After the first three or four strips, and a beautiful execution of hair removal, I got a bit bold. I decided I didn't need to lean in so close. "I got this," I thought to myself. I applied the wax strip for the fifth time and pulled just like I had every other time. I heard the familiar rip and felt the second of burning before I looked back up in the mirror and realized that half the hair on my right eyebrow was gone. Completely and totally gone. All the hair that had been attached to my face about three seconds ago was now attached to a strip of hot pink wax lying on my vanity counter.

My immediate reaction was shock. Crap! What had I done? After a few seconds of staring at it, I turned and faced my roommate who did not even hold composure for a second. We both fell to the floor laughing. Not giggling for twenty seconds type of laughing, but the kind of deep in your gut, can't breathe, crying for twenty minutes over it type laughing. And that was my first lesson: I learned it is important to be able to laugh at yourself, even when you have completely ruined something (like your eyebrow).

The ability to laugh at yourself is such a gift. We so often see our mistakes as the end of the world. We see it as something we will have to fix, or something we have ruined. Rather, we should look at it as an opportunity to start fresh. Finding humor in one's self is when you are able to find humor in others because you understand that no one is perfect and imperfection is just part of it -- which is usually what fills life with the opportunities to laugh. It teaches you not to take yourself too seriously, and with that comes the ability to relax and allow yourself to be imperfect.

The second thing I learned is that people will always talk about you. They will stare at you. A girl missing half her eyebrow is definitely something to laugh and point at. Even while studying in the library for my bio midterm, I could see people staring at me and hear people whispering about my half naked face. Given, it wasn't that big of a deal, but people were still criticizing my appearance. This particular lesson has helped me in the past week.

After writing an article that went viral, which was such a blessing -- thank you, guys -- I had a lot of attention on me. People wanted to talk about me, to me, and comment on my thoughts. Not everything was positive, and sometimes that hurt. I would be lying if I said I had not seen it coming, or I didn't let those words get to me. As much positivity that came out of it, so did negativity. Everyone has an opinion and it does not always necessarily align with yours. However, from all the positivity and negativity that came from that article, I came to the conclusion that a majority of people are open to new and fresh ideas and will formulate an opinion.

People are overall good. My friends were able to laugh with me and laugh at me. The jokes still continue to this day, but my good friends were able to help me conceal the fact that I was missing half my eyebrow when we went out that weekend. My friends have reacted the same way this past week. I have had people genuinely happy for me, and encourage me, and I have had some of the people I consider my best friends display jealous and resentment. People talk about how cruel the world is and how mean humans can be, but a positive attitude does make all the difference. When you view the world as an innately bad place, it will not let you down. When you view the world around you, and the people in it, as loving, kind people you won't be disappointed. How people respond to you is how you expect them to respond because your initial interaction will convey your expectations. If you are positive, you will attract positivity.

After about five days of walking around missing half of the hair above my right eye, I came to accept the lessons my missing eyebrow had taught me. As much as I had known these small influential aspects of life, they were magnified in the absence of an eyebrow, and even more so when I had the opportunity to be thrown under a national spotlight. Positivity really does make all the difference, and with positivity comes acceptance. The world is not perfect; people are not perfect, and neither are you. After you realize your imperfections, you begin to embrace them, finding humor in the things you lack or the things that intimidate you. For example, I lack the skill of an estetician. Needless to say, I will be willing to pay from here on out when it comes to waxing. Remember, it is things like missing half your eyebrow, or leading a movement towards positivity, that teach you the most in life. Embrace the experience and learn the lessons because they will only make life that much sweeter.