Everyone has habits other people would consider weird. My friends think I'm one of the weirdest people they know when they learn about some of my habits.

1. I can't touch the bottom of a sauce cup, so I use several sauces.

2. I can't stand chipped nail polish, so I constantly repaint them.

3. It drives me crazy when my shoes don't match my shirt.

4. It also drives me crazy when jewelry doesn't match an outfit.

5. I feel naked without earrings on.

6. The tags on my blankets MUST be at my feet!

7. While eating, I start with the sides and go clockwise around my plate, taking a drink before I eat something different.

And the list continues...

My point is, everyone has weird habits about them. That's the great thing about life, though. We're all different. What i, everyone was the same? This world be so boring and dull. Embrace your differences. Enjoy the fact that your hair isn't the same as the person sitting 10 feet away from you. Your clothes aren't the same as everyone else you see at work or on campus. We all have different tastes.

It always makes me so sad to see people trying to "fit in" or conform to peer pressure. This is the problem with society these days. As a child or teenager, people are so pressured to look and act a certain way. They should have certain clothes and wear makeup. They get ridiculed for wanting to be different and not wanting or being able to look how they "should."

However, we focus so much on young girls that we never stop and think about how boys are affected by these things, too. They have to be good at sports and be up to date on whatever style their peers are wearing, even hairstyles and fads. They are pressured to be able to lift a certain amount of weight and know everything about whatever the sports topic is. Where I'm from, they even have to know about every vehicle and engine under the sun. Men have a reputation of trying to out-drink one another. It's so irritating to hear the ridicule when they say they don't want to drink that night.

Most of us give our friends crap about things, and we all know it's a joke. But there is a huge difference between joking and peer-pressuring someone. I never thought this happened where I came from until I took a step back one day. I was sitting in a college class listening to someone tell a story about being bullied. In discussion, I said bullying didn't happen in my school. Then, they made me think. This was a subject brought to my attention that spoke volumes to me.

So, be different. Do what you want and like whatever you want to like. One day, you'll be proud of all the weird things you do and what makes you different from everyone else.

"Why fit in when you were born to stand out?" - Dr. Seuss