I used to be the person that was always worried about what other people thought of me. I made sure that I fit into the standards that I believed I needed to be in. I controlled the way I acted around other people, mainly because I wanted to make sure I was never less than what was expected of me. I tried my hardest to be the smartest, kindest, and most diverse person I could be. This about destroyed me. I was always tired, always busy and I never had the chance to be myself.

I was living a double life and I finally got to the point where I cracked. I could no longer keep a smile on my face while trying to please everyone in my life. I was so busy tearing myself apart trying to fit in that I had lost sight of who I wanted to be. I didn’t know who I was anymore because I had spent so much of my time acting like someone else.

The moment I stopped listening to what others wanted me to be, I started enjoying life more. I became happier. I was able to relax and become comfortable in my own skin. Being myself was the best thing to happen to my self-esteem. I realized that I could live up to so much more if I stopped trying to be what everybody said I should be and started to become myself.

I’m not saying that my life is perfect and I ignore any and all negative things that I hear. I do still worry about what others think about me on occasion but I don’t let their opinions control me. I control how I perceive their opinions. I control how I view myself.