As any normal teenage girl does, I am constantly wondering what other people will think or say. I have gotten better at not caring what people think about what I am wearing or how my hair looks, but I still struggle to be a people pleaser day in and day out.
Sure, I know that I should not care what other people think about my life decisions if they are well thought out and make me happy, but I do. Constantly. I am worried that someone I kind of know will sh*t talk my life to one of my friends, or even one of my acquaintances. But who cares? They don't know me, my life, my history or my future. The only opinions that should matter should be the ones from those of which I ask. Even then, if their opinion and thoughts are based upon judgement and not facts, who cares.
All of this is way easier said than done. It is easy for me to say that I don't care about the opinion of my high school best friend's sister's best friend, but sometimes I actually do. I can sit here and wonder what people who I haven't seen in years think of my life and decisions of made. Yet, I can assure you with the roles reversed, I don't really have strong opinions about what those people are doing right now.
In a world constantly driven by social media outlets and everyone trying to "one up" the other, it only makes sense that I, and probably everyone else in some capacity, care what others think. When I post an Instagram picture, I think about who's going to see it, and what they might think about it. On Facebook, I purposely post certain updates or pictures to perpetuate an image to those I am friends with. Heck, I wrote a daily blog for a year to show others the fun in my life, sometimes struggling to share any true difficult moments.
I worried what people thought when I decided to go to App State because people from my high school thought it wasn't a good university since "everyone got in." But I pushed those thoughts aside because it was the best choice for me, and I have no regretted it one bit in my past year and a half there. I still worry what people will think about my joining Delta Zeta. I know some are confused because they actually voiced it. Others pull the same ploy: that I am too good for Greek life. As much as it hurts to have that be said about my personal decisions, I have to push it all away. It is my life, and I am living it for me. Not you. No one else. I don't need to justify my thoughts or actions with anyone besides my parents because they gave me life, and I guess they deserve that much.
If I want to live my life in any safe way that I feel fit, I will. As long as I am not causing harm upon myself and others, how I live my life is truly no one's business.
