In life, it is nearly impossible to do something or say something without getting judged. Everything we do seems to be followed with a negative comment. Some people can walk around without a care in the world about what people think of them and the judgments that follow their actions. I am not one of those people. For almost my entire life, I have been outwardly judged. It made me change the way I looked at myself in a way that caused me to judge myself and my beliefs before I gave anyone else the chance to. It didn't feel great to constantly put myself down, so when I heard other people's judgments, I started to agree with them.

As I have grown and moved from friends to friends, I have realized that the people I surround myself with are very important. If I surround myself with the right people, then I don't have to worry about who I am or what I do every day. I don't have to judge myself, because I know that it doesn't matter to them.

However, there are still those people who don't know me that will judge me even though they don't know who I really am. Honestly, I am OK with that now. I realized that if people feel the need to talk badly about me even they've never met me, then what they say shouldn't matter. I should not continue to think about and worry what strangers think of me when what I think of myself, and my family and friends think of me, is all that matters to me.

Going forward, I want to put what people say about me aside and focus on myself. I want to write about what I believe is important and what I believe people will be interested in. Everyone isn't going to care about what I have to say, but that's OK. I will connect with a group of people, and that is all I want to do. When people have asked me why I write for Odyssey, I tell them that I write because I want to connect with people. A few years ago, when I started reading Odyssey articles, I would think "they write exactly how I feel." I used to struggle with figuring out how to put my thoughts into words, and when I saw articles from Odyssey popping up on my Facebook, I realized that it's OK and I will figure it out.

I want to have those articles that people read and think, "Wow, she knows exactly what I am thinking," because I know exactly how that feels. It makes what people think feel OK and that they aren't the only people who are thinking this. Something I tell myself almost every day is "you are not alone" and I want people to understand that and I would happily be the one to let everyone know.

I am not exactly sure if what I am saying is making sense. Basically, when I joined Odyssey my main goal is to say what I think and hopefully connect with other people. That has not strayed my mind, however, I was nervous to do so, because I was afraid of the judgment that might come with it.

Now, I will try to not let judgments about me affect what I write.