"It wasn't until I started reading and found books they wouldn't let us read in school that I discovered you could be insane and happy and have a good life without being like everybody else."

-John Waters

I am overly sensitive. My mood swings are out of this world. I laugh way too loud. I lack patience. I speak my mind, and most of the time, it comes off as rude. I cry at commercials. My sarcasm knows no bounds. I love college, but I hate school. I put off important tasks, because I am afraid that my best is not good enough.

But, I also love wholeheartedly. My friends and family are the most important things in the world to me. I am one of the most loyal people I know. I want everyone to be as happy as they can be in this world of sin. I am great at giving advice, but I am also just as good as listening. I believe that everyone deserves to feel complete, all on their own.

I think my laugh is way too obnoxious, but I have been told that my laugh makes others laugh also. I read the book East of Eden my senior year of high school, and it changed my life. One of the characters in the book struggled with the need to be perfect. My all time favorite quote comes from this book and it says, "And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good." All throughout high school, I struggled with my self-worth. If I did not get things exactly right, I beat myself up. If plans fell through, somehow it was my fault. I was never good enough, therefore, everything I did was not good enough. It took me two years to understand that I cannot control everything around me, that things simply just are. For every flaw that I believe I may have, I am so much more than that. We often get so overwhelmed and blindsided by our "shortcomings" that we completely ignore the most beautiful and unique part of ourselves.

My challenge to you is to write down everything you love about yourself, and on a hard day, reread it. We all have to remind ourselves how awesome we are, and that is okay. It is beautiful to be confident. It is beautiful to wholly love yourself, flaws and all. It is beautiful to be different. Be as wild and insane as you want.