While your family, like my own, may not be as in your face and demeaning as Harry and Zinnia, the parents of Matilda, sometimes the process of finding yourself as an individual after growing up in a family with a certain set of beliefs can be just as hard of a task as Matilda trying to get some chocolate out of Ms. Trunchbull's house. Now, while we do not, unfortunately, have special powers as Matilda does to help us along the way, you now have these words to help you power through and some things to keep in mind.

I remember the first time that I verbally disagreed with a member of my family. Both of my brothers, my sister, my parents and I were all packed into my father's Ford Explorer on our way into Manhattan. As if six people packed into the car wasn't uncomfortable enough, me disagreeing with my family when they brought up the topic of LGBTQ rights definitely amped up the level of discomfort from zero to 100 very quick.

When I was younger, I recall being nervous to speak against the beliefs of my family members. The anxiety that they would be disappointed in me was overwhelming. However, the more I looked into social issues, the more I read, the more knowledge I gained. I was forming these opinions, these views, my own philosophy that was becoming so attached to who I believed I was, who I could be. In the end, I was right. My family was disappointed in me at first, and I believe that can be the hardest part. For, due to many reasons, it can be hard to understand.

However, while it can be hard for you to find your own views on life separate from what you have been told and possibly have believed for such a long time, it can also be hard for those who have instilled those views within you to understand why you desire to break from them. So try your best to not get discouraged and know that as uncomfortable as you feel challenging what you have always understood to be true, you are not only challenging your own ways; you are challenging theirs.

Steve Jobs said it best when he stated,

"Don't be trapped by dogma -- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."

So whether your family encourages you to break from/educate yourself on their views, or looks down on you for doing so, the process is not easy, but it is necessary. There is a reason why teenagers and young adults are often described as "lost." What you must remember is that, if everyone were to simply follow in the exact footsteps and philosophy of those around them, there would never be incentive for change. The sun would rise and the sun would set, and all would stay the same.

Find your way. Acknowledge those views and values on which you have been raised, and either educate yourself on them so you may stand by them proudly and not in ignorance, or understand that a dissonance between what you may have once have just accepted as a matter of fact and what you now believe is progress, and just a step in you fulfilling the potential you were born to fulfill.

All in all, always remember to accept the fluidity of your beliefs as your life goes on, and to respect the beliefs of those, who much like yourself, are just trying to find their way, their place and who they are in this crazy world around us.