Growing up in a world that ostracizes those that are different than the majority, I always felt very out of place growing up with red hair. I was one of the only people in my whole school district that made up the 2% of the world’s population, so at times I thought there was something wrong with me for looking the way I did – pale and freckly were not the common trends of my generation.
Jr. High was the dreaded time for anyone that was going through an awkward puberty stage, and it was the highlight of any “normal” kid’s life getting to tease all the others about their insecurities (although, looking back now, they were probably the ones fighting against their insecurities, too). Nevertheless, being called a ginger seemed like such a derogatory thing that, again, I thought something was wrong with me because of the genes I was born with.
I pined for hair dye, just so I could look like everyone else and not stick out so much. I lathered myself in sunless tanning lotion, no matter how orange my legs turned out. I just wanted to be “normal.”
But after a while of hating my orange and blotchy legs more than I did my pale legs, and with my mom not letting me dye my hair (for which now I am so thankful), I started to realize that this was who I was; I didn’t need to change anything.
Eventually, I started to like being able to be picked out from a crowd because of my hair. And knowing that it was eventual skin cancer or paleness, I chose to lather on sunscreen daily instead of the sunless tanning lotion. When prom season came around, I laughed when people asked me if I was going to go tanning instead of feeling self conscious, because I knew that that just wasn’t who I was or what I was capable of.
We are each born with a unique set of chromosomes, giving us different traits and characteristics. All 7billion+ of us are different, no two are exactly alike. We do learn by example, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t put our own unique twist on whatever it is that we’re doing. The sooner we understand that comparing ourselves to others is so pointless, the better off we’ll be. Instead of wishing you had the body of a supermodel, appreciate that body, but also love yours; maybe you weren’t born to be a super model, but you were surely born to be super at something.
What we all need to learn is that being different doesn’t make you a bad or weird person. Whether you’re different because of your hair, or the clothes you like to wear, or the activities you enjoy, embrace it. It’s cool to be yourself, and people will admire you more for your confidence more than your ability to fit in (not that you’re looking for people’s acceptance anyway, because you’re a unique individual, duh).
Instead of thinking of all of the things you wish you were or the things you wish you could do, think of your great abilities, and the way you care for others, or the way you work harder than anyone you know. Remember the things that make you, you, because that’s so much more important than a dress size or popularity.
Choosing to let go of the materialistic and egocentric thinking that is hammered into us through magazines, television, and society will open up worlds of happiness that we never knew of before because we were worrying about our looks or what others thought of us.
Take yourself as you are. Accept and love yourself, don’t try to be like everyone else!
Cue Tori Kelly’s “Unbreakable Smile”
