People are constantly telling others to be themselves, however, some people do not know the true meaning of being oneself or do not mean what they say. So often when I hear be yourself, I hear a faint voice in my head mumble "not."

As previously stated, some people do not know the true meaning of being oneself, but some people do. As I child, I had no idea what be yourself meant. I just thought, "I'm Missi, so if I'm being Missi than I'm being myself." But what did being Missi entail? As the years passed, I gained a better understanding of who I was and what it meant to be myself.

All throughout my life I was told to be myself. Parents, friends, teachers, employers, etc. all advised me to be myself. There's a catch, though! Some people believe that being yourself means being the person they want you to be and some people do not mean what the say. So when my parents told me to be myself I was and I knew they understood what they were saying and that they were sincere. However, during my middle school years when friends would tell me to be myself, I began to realize that being myself in their eyes was vastly different than being myself through the eyes of my parents. When a teacher tells you to be yourself what're they're really saying is "be the student I would enjoy teaching." And when an employer tells you to be yourself in an interview what they're really saying is "be the person we want to hire, so that you get the job." I'm not saying this is always the case, but often times it is.

Being yourself is the best thing you can be because "you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You." -Dr. Seuss

Something that makes me happier than ever is seeing someone embrace who they are. Someone who lives by the suggestion to be yourself and does not let anything or anyone influence themselves or their desire to be who they are.

A great example of when the statement, "Be yourself," is not sincere is in regards to gender or sexual preference. The LGBT community faces constant oppression and discrimination. When someone tells a person who is gay "be yourself" often, people mean change who you are to please me and/or society. That is not okay. It has gotten to a point where being yourself has created a need for a law allowing only allows a person who identifies as a male use the men's bathroom and only allows a person who identifies as a females use the women's bathroom just so a transgender, who is simply being themselves, can use the bathroom. This bill is called the Transgender Public Accommodation Bill, also known as The Bathroom Bill, and it is becoming increasingly popular recently.

What I hope readers take away from this is that everyone should have the opportunity to be themselves and that being yourself is okay even if that means you have to be different. One of my favorite quotes from Dr. Seuss is, "Why fit in when you were born to stand out?"

So be yourself, I mean it. Stand out and together let's shut that little voice in our heads up that mumbles "not."