Reasons To Embrace Your Individuality

How many of you have ever felt personally victimized by someone's judgement? I swear, I wasn't trying to even quote "Mean Girls," it just happened. You may or may not know the person, but either way, it still stings a little. Personally, I try to ignore it by looking at my phone, putting my head down, and walking faster. I start to sweat, worse than I normally do. When you sweat like I do already, and then add that extra nervous sweat, you look utterly attractive.

I don't want to sprinkle some rainbow on your day, because I am not that happy-go-lucky kind of person, but I do have a message for you and your embarrassments, whatever they may be. Let me tell you right now that living in a state of mind where you feel like you're going to get made fun of so strongly that you will do anything to hide it is not the right way to live. It took me a few years, but I got it now, and I want you to hear me out.

When I was three years old, I was diagnosed with a nerve disorder referred to as CIDP, or chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. When I was diagnosed, I was one of very few kids in the country with it. Talk about unique, right? It caused me have a different gait to my walk, which most people would describe as marching. You know those cute shoes you really wanted at the mall? I could never wear them; they were too heavy for me to walk in, and they didn't have enough strapping for support. This tore me down for years. I got used to the looks, the snickers, and the whispers. The cruelest of the cruel would even walk beside me, mirroring my movements. I am a sophomore in college, and to this day, these things will occur.

You would think, being in a place where people are legal adults, that we would all have the maturity to stop these kinds of things, but I see it every day. Why? What do we get out of pointing out someone's flaws? I look at some of these students on campus, and they literally blow my mind with the things they accomplish with their disabilities. Blind kids crossing roads, doing daily tasks, and never complaining or asking for help. Deaf kids, sitting in a classroom, watching someone sign the whole lecture to them, still getting impeccable grades, and also never complaining. Yet there's always that person that sits and laughs at their struggles. Then I see kids more on my side of things. My ex's roommate is dealing with Spina Bifida, and he still goes out with his friends every weekend in his walker, and he does it with confidence. I envy those kinds of people.

These other students with disabilities aren't afraid of what people are going to say. They aren't nervous about being made fun of. In fact, they act like nothing fazes them. But my favorite thing about them is how they embrace it.

Can this be the new trend? Can we stop caring about what anyone says and embrace every detail about ourselves? Whether it be a flaw or perk of being who you are, embrace it, because frankly, it makes you who you are. You are you, and that's the beauty of it. There is only a handful of people out there that walk like me, and I think that's cool. How many people can say that they have something truly unique about themselves?

So, friends, I invite you start this trend. Start being mature, but most of all, start being the better person. Smile and throw out a compliment, and not because you pity that person, but because you adore the way they handle themselves. After all, the world would be a much better place if we could start embracing and stop disgracing.