I've been told I'm not good enough. I've been told my dreams are unrealistic or selfish. I've been told my ambitious are self-centered. And I've been told I can't do it. I've been told how I should dress, and I've been told that I'm weird when I pick my cat T-shirt over my crop top.

I've been told that I'll never find anyone better than my ex, although I believe God has a different plan for me. I've been told that I am a failure, and perhaps I might be. But something nobody had to tell me was that I am me. I have been a faithful person even when I declared myself as an atheist for a few years of my life. I have had faith in myself and in my beliefs even when people tell me that veganism, Christianity, collegiate running, and teaching abroad were stupid, selfish and unobtainable. However, one of my greatest joys in this life is that it is mine. I'm not living this life for the joys of others, I'm living it for me. And if sacrificing my safety to teach in third world countries is selfish, then I am the most selfish of them all.

If I had to cry myself to sleep most of my senior year of high school from suffering from homelessness and a high ambition to become a collegiate athlete, then let me cry. If I have to let go of the guy most believe to be the best I could get, then let me be alone. And if veganism is stupid, then let me be stupid. Something I have found to be the most satisfying is to be deaf to doubts. This life is yours and nobody else's. As I write this I am flying in a plane over the ocean and it feels as though I'm in a different world. There's white and blue above and below me. I am in a different dimension in this moment in time. And right now, I feel complete bliss knowing that this life is mine.

It isn't the life of those who doubt me. It isn't the life of those who told me that my dreams were too big. And as they laugh while I stumble and fall, I've learned more than I could ever imagine learning. I am me. And I am happy and free. I understand my imperfections. I understand how many times I've failed. I understand that a lot of my hardships were my own doing. However, those hardships define me. And yours define you. No matter who you are, you are capable of this bliss. You are capable of being deaf to doubt and strengthening your own being. You are capable of being you without being discriminated. If you are stupid, then be the most stupid. If you are ignorant than be the most ignorant. If you're living a lie, then live the biggest lie there is. Because in this life, those degrading terms get thrown around by people that don't believe in themselves. If you've ever talked to someone that has accomplished their dreams, they wouldn't feel the need to tell you it's impossible, because they know themselves that it is possible.

Those comments are out their to drag you down. They're taunting you due to the people that couldn't do it themselves. You are great. You are powerful. You are beautiful, and strong, and CAPABLE. You don't need to be with someone else to be great. You don't need to get accepted into a certain school, or go to school at all. You hold your worth. And those who attempt to drag you down do not. All I can say to you is LET GO. Let go of it all. Let go of the hard times and the doubts. Understand you're not perfect, and nobody is. Understand that this is your life and you create it. And most of all, remain deaf to doubt because it does not have control over you.