OK, this book might not have changed my life in a huge way, but it has certainly changed the way I look at life.

At the moment I am reading a book by Dave Pelzer called My Story.  It is a trilogy including; A Child Called ‘It’, The Lost Boy, and I Am David.  I am halfway through ‘The Lost Boy’ at the moment and I am loving it.  It is a fairly easy read but, boy oh boy does it bring forward a few tears!

Not wanting to give the story away at all, but it centers around a little boy who grows up being treated like a slave by his own mother.  She does everything in her power to make life a misery for her son and treats him worse than her dogs!  She never feeds him, makes him sleep in the garage, makes him do endless chores and even tries to kill him a few times!  Eventually the school nurse calls in the police and Dave gets moved to a foster home.  The story is written by Dave Pelzer as if he were writing it at the time.  It tells of his hope and endurance and how he manages through each obstacle thrown into his path.

The book is very inspiring as it makes you realise how fortunate we all are to live the life we do.  If someone, who was in such a terrible position could find hope and turn the situation around, why can’t we be optimistic about the little ‘crisis’s’ in our own lives.  We are surrounded by people who love and care for us and who we can talk to when we need to.  I know that if I am ever troubled, I can turn to my family, my friends, teachers at school or the people in my community.  This makes me feel safe with the knowledge that I will always be protected.  But what if you aren’t as fortunate as myself and are left feeling insecure just like the little boy in this story?  Life must be tough and I’m sure lots of South Africans often feel like life is not worth living.  This is why we need to support the centres that take in abused children in the way of charity work so that they can continue doing the brilliant job they are doing. 

The book certainly has opened my eyes to what others might be going through and I highly recommend that each and everyone reads the book, even if only to appreciate our own existence.