I grew up as the youngest of three girls in a small town outside Boston．My parents did their best to （16）___ everything we needed．It was a（n） （17）___ life，I seemed to have all I wanted：a lot of latest fashionable clothes and holiday vacations．At school some of my classmates envied me，（18）___ when came back from spring break（春假）．From the outside，I appeared to have it all，but inside I was losing something （19）___ to live a happy life，an active self-image （自我形象）．When I looked at myself in the mirror I felt （20）___ and unhappy．

Great clothes，dancing，singing，and piano lessons did not （21）___ the emptiness I felt inside myself．（22）___ my mom told me that I was a born artist； I had so little confidence that I didn't believe that it was true．Instead，I compared myself to others and always found myself losing something．

（23）___ can take the place of an active self-image．It's something we can't fake （假装），even if we act as if we have one．It might be wonderful to have parents who （24）___ how to help me develop feeling of self-worth．My parents are really good people who（25）___ didn't know how．As a result，building self-worth has become my lifelong lesson．

Today I understand that feeling good about myself is a lifelong process never to be rushed，only to be embraced （拥抱） with time．