No one on our Earth is exactly the same. We all come from different backgrounds, different religious beliefs and different views of life. However, there is one thing that we all have in common; we all have our insecurities. Whether you are concerned with your physical appearance or whether you want to fit in with a specific group, we have all experienced the feeling of wanting to fit in. Luckily for some people, fitting in comes easily. With others, it is not that simple.

Growing up, I faced a constant battle with social insecurities. Social media pushed the idea of social norms sharing the idealistic views of what women are supposed to look like and that got into my head. I would constantly ask myself whether or not I looked pretty enough to go out or whether or not I looked fat in an outfit that I thought was super cute. I would question if others would even like the outfit I loved and if I had the smallest doubt, I would change into something I was not comfortable wearing but I knew that would be socially acceptable. The struggle grew past social appearance and into sports and extra-curricular activities. The feeling that I wasn’t good enough never left. I spent years and years fighting for my acceptance. There would be days where I would go to school and hope that I would make a new friend or maybe talk to someone who was thought as popular. My insecurities exceeded social acceptance. My mind would come up with crazy scenarios where I would later believe that in the end, no one liked me. I had to fight with myself to make myself feel better. At one point, my social insecurities pushed me so far that I felt completely alone. It got so bad that I could not even recognize the person that I had become.

It was not until the past year and half that I discovered that you shouldn’t have to fight for acceptance. One day, I was talking with one of my friends and she reminded me of a quote by the talented Dr. Seuss. It read, “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who matter don’t mind and those who mind don’t matter.” I had never heard such a truer statement in my life. I don’t know why it had taken me so long to realize that I did not need anybody’s approval but my own. I had become someone I did not know and I did not like. I was obsessed with pleasing everybody I met, and I felt the need to tend to others before myself just so that they would like me. I drove myself crazy with the lack of self-esteem and self-respect.

When I finally realized how much I loved who the true me was, I became the happiest person. Tending to myself before anyone else taught me self-respect and built my confidence. I had no worries and no second thoughts to whether or not I was good enough. I was someone I liked and that was all that mattered. Whether you accept or deny your insecurities, they are there. But ladies and gentlemen, embrace your insecurities. It may sound crazy, but they make you who you are and you are perfect just the way you are. I am telling you, no one else’s opinion matters more than your own. Do not fight for the acceptance of someone who does not see the beauty inside of you. It is not worth it and in fact, you should not have to. If that person does not see how amazing you are, they aren’t worth your time. Love who you are and embrace everything that makes you you.