I suppose that I can’t sit here and say that the day that I stopped caring what people think of me was the best day of my life, because that didn’t happen in a single day. It was a process. It still is a process.

It is only natural to care what other people think of you. What do they think of what you’re wearing? Is your makeup poorly applied? What do they think of your personality? Are you funny? Annoying? Cool? Weird?

It wasn’t until I got to college that I finally decided to let go of all of that. Well, partially. I came to realize that too much energy was spent on trying to please others, or at least entertain them. I wanted people to like me, as many people do. But, in doing that I was not being myself. I was being what others wanted me to be.

Here is one of the biggest problems with that: everyone wants different types of people in their lives. So, what does that lead to? In my personal opinion, it leads to the loss of yourself. It is so easy to get caught up with being who others want you to be that you end up forgetting who you really are.

When I got to college, I found myself. Now, I know that sounds cliche. However, when I let go of the idea of pleasing other people, it was only natural that I would be myself. When that process began, I worked on being my best self and I couldn’t be happier. A large part of that process was purposefully letting go of people in my life that I felt were doing me more harm than good, and that was the best decision that I have ever made. In that aspect of your life, you have the right to be as selfish as you want to be. I kept the people that liked me for me and that’s something that I believe everyone should do.

You need to learn that those who want to be a part of your life will stay, and those who don’t are people that you don’t need to waste your time worrying about. Everything happens for a reason. Look at that, another cliche. But, it is a cliche that needs be lived by.