When I was a child, I tried to change the things about me that made me stick out from the rest of the crowd. I wanted to blend in with everyone else. I constantly shied away from sharing my voice and talents with the world. Looking back, I think this had to do with my continuous fear of being judged. I thought that by blending in, life would be a lot simpler. Now that I'm 20 years old, I now understand that we all need to embrace the things that make us "weird."

The world would be a boring place if everyone was the same. Can you imagine a world where everyone dresses the same? Has the same haircut? Has the same voice? In some ways, I think that people in our society, specifically in my generation, shy away from authenticity. It's almost as if we all know that we should be different, but we are too scared to admit it. This year, more so than others, I am deciding to dedicate myself to authenticity. I say cut your hair, paint more, write more, because the world needs your "weirdness."

I am slowly learning what it truly means to be authentic. For a long period of time, I wanted to be liked by those around me. I placed the opinions of others at a higher standard than my own opinion of myself. A desire to be liked by everyone stifles authenticity. If you are being your authentic self, you will undoubtedly be disliked by people. Your authentic power may be in the way you style your clothes, the way you speak, or even the way you think. We all approach the world differently. Once you discover what sets you apart, you must then decide to embrace those things about yourself and never look back.

An important step in my journey of embracing my authenticity was to separate authenticity from inspiration. I think that we can all be inspired by those around us. We can appreciate the creative gifts of other people such as the way they dress or even the way they speak. Although we can be inspired by other individuals, we should not try to evolve our authentic gifts around those we find in other people. Simply put, let the gifts of other people inspire you, but do not let them lead you astray from following the unique gifts you hold.

Embracing your authenticity is not an easy task. It requires dedication, self-reflection, and can be time-consuming. Finding and understanding what sets you apart from others does not happen overnight. Oftentimes, we discover our unique talents at unexpected times during our life. You may have lost track of your talents and individualism through many years of hiding from the judgments of others. Remain patient with yourself. Your authentic power is always there, you just have to be willing to discover it. Learn to accept yourself, your unique way of thinking, and your creative talents. The judgments of other people will have no power once you dedicate yourself to remaining authentic in all situations.