Whether you're in college or high school, there is a ton of pressure to be the person that everybody else wants you to be no matter what you do or where you go. Your parents want you to pursue a major that you're not sure you are passionate about, your friends want you to join a club you're not really interested in, your teacher says you should have already reached a milestone that you haven't even considered...the list goes on and on.
To give you a little bit of background about myself - I was always extremely shy in school. I didn't really have a reason to be shy except for the fact that it was just a part of my personality. In high school and for the first part of college I found myself following what everyone around me did, even if it meant skipping lunch and feeling sick for the rest of the day or refusing to dress for gym and taking a bad grade (that only happened once, and thankfully we were given one free pass on that). I didn't like getting in trouble or breaking the rules and I didn't like being embarrassed, but I was willing to do whatever it took to not be "the weird girl."
Since then, I've embraced being the weird girl. If weird is the worst trait about me, I guess I'm doing pretty well. Though I still have my moments - I can't begin to tell you how many hilarious things I haven't shared on Facebook because of what my friends and their friends might think of me - I've found that accepting and loving yourself is way more fun than being the cookie-cutter that everybody seemingly wants you to be. Still don't believe me? Here's a few reasons why.
1. It makes you vulnerable (in a good way!).
Last semester, in the first day of my math class, which was said to be the most difficult class in my particular program, the professor had us all stand up and we weren't allowed to sit down until we said something about ourselves that was weird. Mine? I get lettuce on my Chipotle bowl, even though I don't like lettuce, because it looks nicer. The point of the activity was to make ourselves vulnerable and to share something that everybody could judge us for. The only twist was everybody who was judging was sharing something just as strange. When you open up to someone, they open up to you and it's a pretty awesome chain reaction.
2. It makes you brave.
Though this piggybacks the first reason, it's still important. When you begin to love yourself and be the person you are and want to be, your fears don't really stand in your way anymore. I used to have the biggest fear of speaking in front of my class, but now it's easy because I know the only person I want to impress is myself. Besides, if you know how to laugh at yourself, you're all set regardless of what comes your way.
3. You really don't know what everybody wants from you - and neither do they.
If I have learned anything through my seemingly endless years of education, it's that we judge people far too quickly. We have these crazy ideas in our head about what everybody wants us to be and what they'll think when in reality, they don't care about your outfit or what you just posted on Facebook, as long as it has nothing to do with them. Society is constantly changing, and if we really expected something from everybody, we just couldn't keep up. And really, if they judge you for who you are, they must be miserable and you'll have to accept that you can't change it.
4. The truth comes out eventually.
Ever heard that saying about how one lie turns into a million other lies? That stands true when it comes to your personality as well. The more you pretend to be someone you're not, the less you'll be able to hide it when you become comfortable and expose who you really are. If you be yourself from the beginning, it'll never feel like you're hiding something.
5. You can be fearless.
I wanted to use a word other than "happy" here, because this is the most important reason to me. To be yourself is more than to make yourself happy, but it to make yourself fearless. Yes, you will be happy, but that's because you're no longer afraid. You can choose the path that's meant for you when you're at a crossroads, you can try something new without being so terrified that you back out, and you can keep uncovering hidden truths to the real you that you hadn't even considered yet. You become a risk taker and risk takers are fearless.
It's not an easy road, or a shortcut, but it's one that's worth it. It all starts with one choice and that choice leads to another, and another, and so on, but you can't make the change without choosing to be yourself at some point. And once you do, you'll feel much better. My choice was to live boldly instead of doing what I assumed everyone else thought was right. What's yours?
