Recently, my friend and I had a heart to heart moment, and something she said really stuck with me.

Let me give you a little background about my friend first. I have known for over a year now and we have been pretty close. We are part of the same group of friends, so we hang out together all the time. She is the strongest person I have ever met in my life. She is so outspoken and will always stand up for herself. I have never seen tears in her eyes before that night. She always describes her family life as much fun and loving, and she never ever showed any major problem in her life. She is someone that I want to be like, so bold and strong.

But, that night, hearing her story literally broke me down. I saw tears in her eyes for the first time. Her voice cracking up as she continued to speak. I just couldn't hold myself together. The girl, who I thought had such a perfect life and who was genuinely happy with the way everything was, someone I looked up to, was not content with her life as she had so many things going on.

We talked a lot that night about things happening in both of our lives and we shared things that we had never said aloud. From that whole heartful conversation, one thing she said really stuck with me and affected me a lot: "Fake it until you make it."

I have always heard that phrase in different places and different stories. But this was the first time someone in my life had said it and I could understand and feel the true meaning of the phrase.

Everyone has a story they don't share

Everyone has a battle that they are fighting in their life, whether they share it or not. No one's life is perfect in any way. And, what you see isn't always the truth. They are so many escapes that people have. Some people fake their smiles and bubbly personalities to get through the day to go home and cry themselves to sleep.parents at night. That girl who doesn't reply to her texts after 10 p.m. because she is lame and sleeps so early may be laying in bed hoping sleep can be her escape. Or even that kid who just stays in his room all day and doesn't want to make friends may be fighting with anxiety. You never know what is going on in someone's life because a lot of people do not share their pain.

Stop judging

It's so natural for us to talk about other people. We casually sit around with our friends and someone says "Did you know what she did?" or "Can you believe she actually said that?" or even "Yo, did you see that couple?" It's human nature to judge someone who doesn't stick to society's norms or does something perceived as not right in our minds. But we do not know their feelings or thoughts behind their actions. So, we need to stop judging others. It's OK to think that someone's actions or words are not correct, but you should not sit there and just make conclusions on people. Let just people live their lives on their own, and you so the same.

It is just so upsetting to realize that so many people around us are hurting and faking it until they make it, and we don't even know it. Just let's just all try not to judge others and try to be nice to everyone.