From a young age we are told to tell the truth, but we are also told not to hurt anyone's feelings. We are told to ask others how they are, but we are also told not to talk too much about ourselves. We are told to support others when they are upset, but we are also told not to ask for help from our friends.

Society today is run by a complex set of rules. And these rules dictate what we can and cannot say if we want to be accepted by our friends and family. I say to hell with those rules; life is too short to live by somebody else's rules. I'm sick of censoring myself for the sake of not ruffling any feathers.

I'm not talking about saying things that are mean. I'm talking about talking about your feelings. While we know that we are human, societal rules tend to devalue conversations about our emotions, especially for males. Society conditions us into thinking that since talking about our feelings can make people uncomfortable we shouldn't.

Well I think that's dumb. We aren't robots. Humans have emotions and they can be messy. But just because they aren't clear-cut and they may make people uncomfortable doesn't mean we don't have a right to them.

So here goes nothing.

I'm upset at my roommates because they never read anything I write. I've been writing for the Odyssey for almost a year now, and the last time I know of that one of them read one of my articles was back before summer started. That hurts.

Friends support friends. That means reading what they write. Going to their games. Listening to them practice speeches. Or whatever else it may be.

Phew, that wasn't as hard as I thought.

Now here's the key to throwing out the rules: you have to accept whatever comes from that. I accept if I was wrong and they were secretly reading these, I accept if I was right, I accept an apology and I accept getting yelled at for airing my grievances online instead of in person. Whatever comes next, I accept it. I'm not going to make any excuses for what I've said.

Like I said earlier, life is too short to live by somebody else's rules. Life is too short to be unhappy. Instead of moping around in a self-imposed isolation, ask for help, reach out to others. Let the entire world know how you feel.

This year own your emotions. Talk about your emotions. Tell people how they make you feel whether it be good or bad.