For My Own Good

For some time now I have been thinking about starting a blog. I do not know how often I will post (college life is just a little busy) or how the quality of my posts will be (I am not an English major, I just write for my own enjoyment). But I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read them. Feel free to contact me with questions or comments. Okay, enough beating around the bush... here goes nothing!

 

I cannot begin to estimate the time I have spent analyzing my actions and wondering what other people think of me. I think this is something all of us do naturally, but I have been working to not be so self-conscious about how others may view me. And let me tell you, it feels GREAT! I'm not advising you to throw common courtesy out the window, but just BE YOURSELF.

 

Let me make something clear: I am far from perfect; I find new flaws with myself nearly every day. But I believe everyone can find something to be proud of. These days, it seems everyone is bending over backwards in order to satisfy their significant other, peers, parents, etc. I think things would be better if we would stop trying to do this and instead focus on satisfying ourselves. I recently received some wonderful advice from a loved one. She told me, "You can't be happy with someone else until you learn to be happy on your own." That really resonated with me. I spent time reflecting on where I was compared to where I wanted to be. I am not still not where I want to be by any stretch of the imagination. But I am a whole heck of a lot closer than I was when she gave me that advice.

 

I am not trying to tell you how to live your life. I'm just telling you to take control of it. Get off the path others have set for you, and pave a path for yourself. Do not feel like you have to go to a certain place, wear certain clothes, or act a certain way just because other people do. It doesn't even matter if those other people are your friends. True friends will respect you and accept you for who you want to be. So if you're the guy or gal who legitimately wants to party five nights a week, go for it! (Disclaimer: I would not advise you to do that, but the purpose of this post is not to give moral advice.) I just feel like the world is full of people who are so afraid to be different because of the way other people may react. At the end of the day though, their reactions don't matter; how you feel about yourself is what matters.

 

Take me for example; I know that I am a nerd. I mean, how many college students blog? And out of that number, how many blog about things other than how much they drank last weekend or how hot so-and-so is. I used to try my best to hide the fact that I enjoyed learning, but what good did that do me? Why not just embrace the fact that I enjoy it? I am not just a nerd, though. If you haven't noticed, we humans are rather complex individuals - that is the whole problem with stereotypes! I enjoy lifting weights, playing basketball, and being outdoors. All of those activities go against the "nerd" stereotype. But I know that I enjoy those activities (and I know exercise is really important), so I continue to do them.

 

If you are the complete opposite of me, good for you! Let me reiterate, my goal is not to convince everyone to be just like me. I want you to be JUST LIKE YOU! It just scares me that so many people on my social media apps post and tweet about the same exact things and share pictures doing the same things. Of course we all have things in common with other people, but individuality is really really really important! For example, the whole "Typical White Girl" thing on Twitter drives me crazy. Sure, there is nothing wrong with checking out and retweeting some of the funny tweets, but please don't model your life after it! I will probably write a whole post about social media in the future, so I will leave that subject alone for now.

 

How many times have you started a relationship with someone and thought to yourself, "They really aren't who I thought they were." I would venture to say this has happened to everyone who has been in more than one relationship. How much better would things be if everyone decided to be themselves? We could fall in love with someone for who they really are instead of falling for some person who simply is not real. Sure, I'm guilty of pretending to be something I'm not just to get a girl to like me. But I am starting to realize that will just set your relationship up for failure. Just live life so that you are happy with yourself and sooner or later I promise you will find someone who loves you. There are about seven billion people in the world. It may take a while, but if you put yourself out there you are bound to find your match eventually!

 

As the title of this post suggests, I am writing this for my own good. If you agree with me, that makes me happy. Get out there and don't be afraid to swim against the current when you have to. If you think this is a load of crap, that is fine with me too. But I honestly think you would be happier if you decided to be yourself. :)