Acceptance

By Sherry Growing up, I’ve always had trouble being myself around different groups of people due to insecurity. Some may even say that I have different personalities. This leads to comments like, “Oh, she’s fake.” or “Why does she act so different around me?” These little comments have always made me wonder, am I being fake or am I just acting differently because of my comfort level around these certain groups. Many people find it hard to adjust to new groups of people as they find their place in the circle. The reason for this is usually because of the fear of judgment or rejection. The insecurity that these comments leave is also the reason why it may be hard for people like me to be our selves. As common as the phrase, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is, I know that a lot of people are still prejudiced and will have an already developed opinion about you before getting to know you. Throughout middle school, I had always felt the need to force myself to be a character other than my own by acting and talking a certain way just to “fit in” to be guaranteed acceptance. However, these past few years in high school, I’ve realized that being comfortable in my own skin should be one of the most important things to me. It shouldn’t matter what people think about me as long as I’m happy with the person that I am. In addition, it’d be easier to find the people that are worth keeping in my life, because they wouldn’t encourage me to be someone that I’m not. It is not worth changing your image and personality for people who won’t make an effort to take you as you are. I guess my problem in the past years was not the struggle of fitting in, but instead, it was my struggle of meeting the expectations of people who wouldn’t accept me for me. I will no longer be afraid to be who I am, because if I don’t love myself, no one else will. To others who are feeling conflicted with accepting themselves or being comfortable around others, remember that you should always be true to yourself and those around you no matter what. Never change your originality for someone else. If your friends won’t accept you, there will be others along the road that will.