Dear boys,

If you were expecting a rant about incompetence

Something about how you don’t know how to treat girls

Or how we should just cancel boys all across the board or something like that,

This letter isn’t it.

I want this letter to be for the scared boys.

The insecure boys.

The confused boys.

The boys who love too much and get stepped on.

The boys who cry in the shower so no one will reduce their self-esteem to shreds by calling them a baby.

The boys who feel tongue tied when emotions come up

Or think with their heart.

This letter is for you.

You’re strong. No, don’t look at your biceps.

Your strength isn’t determined by the muscle in your body

But by the growth of your heart.

Don’t determine your value by how much you bench

Or if you’re six foot or not.

Your height doesn’t make you a better person. It’s how you deal with your problems. Your experiences. Your life and how you combat your problems.

That is what makes you the person you are.

You may be guarded,

Hiding behind a facade of crude humor and joking responses

Because you don’t want anyone to know that you’re emotional.

You’re damn emotional. Chick flicks have made you cry and love songs are actually really cute.

That’s okay. Honestly, that’s better than okay.

What your friends think don’t really matter.

So you’re allowed to be scared.

Love.

Have fears.

Cry.

Care.

Express.

Don’t fall into society’s stereotype of being this hypermasculine figure that has to be tough in every situation and can’t show even a flicker of emotion in your eyes.

You’re a human being, for crying out loud!

You are allowed to feel.

It is healthy to feel.

Your bros will like you for who you are. You don’t have to always be down for doing what they want to do. If you want to chill in your room for a night and play video games or read a book instead of drink your liver to a different dimension, do it. I know you try to act the way you do to impress your friends.

You don't have to.

Just because society says a guy has to be a certain way, doesn’t mean you have to fit in that cookie cutter mold.

Because if you’re not acting the way you want to act but you’re also not acting the way society wants you to act, all you’re left with feeling is confused and hurting those around you because you don’t know what part of you you should give them.

Give your genuine self.

Because even though you’re afraid of judgment, we’re all weird. We’re all dorky. We all have weird passions like looking for Bigfoot or coin collecting.

Last but not least,

You’ll grow up to be a man and nobody can take that away from you.

Nothing you do will make you “any less of a man," no matter what other people say.

You are a boy who has a lot of growing to do.

You will be a man with even more growing to do.

You will always be learning more about yourself as each year passes.

Embrace it. Love it. And accept yourself for who you are.

You are loved.