Be Who You Are or Nothing At All?

There are days when I feel like I’m still in high school. The feeling of insecurity washes over me and consumes my thoughts and actions. Hesitant to be who you truly are inside for the fear of being judged by peers and strangers. Thinking before you speak becomes second nature to you. Carefully watching what you say in order to keep the peace within your everyday life. The world is your high school and you are the subject.

What is it that stops us from being who we are? Is it the fear of not being accepted? Is it because we realize not everyone will Iike us? Or are we simply afraid to be who we are because we don’t accept who we are? Every day people are told by society how to look, dress, speak, think, act. We are controlled by a world of strangers who decide how we should and will view ourselves. The ones who survive the criticism and judgment are the ones who suffer the most. No matter what you do, judgment will follow.

So what happens if you stop caring and show the world who you are? Bare all and expose every secret, flaw, issue, mistake, etc..? You lose some friends? You lose some family? You get unfriended off of Facebook? What happens?

Is living in a world where you change who you are better than being yourself in order to keep everything as is? Well in my opinion, I don’t know. Would I like to say yes? Absolutely, but the reality is it’s hard to do. If I decide to always be who I am meaning I keep no secrets, always tell the truth, always let people know my opinion, be who I am, etc… what happens? Here’s what happens. I possibly lose friends and family. So my question is, then why would I want them in my life in the first place? Strangers judge me but then why do I care? I don’t know them and they don’t know me.

The people in your life should love you unconditionally, no matter what. Everyday people kill themselves because of bullies and people telling them who they need to be. Parents disown their children for being gay. Friends isolate friends for standing up for what they believe in. Strangers kill strangers for their political beliefs. Races fight against races because of societies views. We should be coming together as a country to stand up for one another and stop the hate and judgment.

What gives anyone the right to hurt, judge, kill, etc… another person? What makes them better than everyone else? Nothing.

Money doesn’t make you matter more.

Being poor doesn’t make you more humble.

Being honest doesn’t make you not a liar.

Being a liar doesn’t mean you’re never tell the truth.

Having a higher position in a company doesn’t make you better than those under you.

Being a certain religion doesn’t make you a saint.

Being a certain race doesn’t give you the right to treat people a certain way.

Being a certain sex doesn’t give you the right to more money or a better job.

Being human doesn’t give you the right to mistreat the world and people around you.

When people stop categorizing others into who they should be and assuming they have the right to anything they please, the world might just have a chance at saving what is already not destroyed. We need to work together and build a stronger nation or future generations don’t stand a chance. Everything great takes time to become something worth having. Small steps will eventually turn into big movements. Stop judging and start living by loving others and the world around us. By making small changes, big changes can happen.