I’ve always been a bit different, and I don’t mean that in a bad way.

I am not the average girl, but then again, I am just a girl. I am the girl who loves everyone instead of everyone loving her. Who attempts to be friends with everyone instead of having a solid friend group. Who isn’t mentally stable, but sees the world a little bit differently because of that. I’m a little alternative and sometimes I come off too strong, but hey, that’s what makes me, well, me.

We’re all a little different and more times than not I find myself or my friends feeling shameful for who we are or what we’ve become. I have found that many aspects of our society teach us to fit into this perfect little bubble – go to school, do well in school, work hard, get a job, start a family, be friends with this person, don’t be friends with this person, blah blah blah. People become hyper competitive because of this bubble that we’re taught to fit into, and it becomes insane.

It’s exhausting to be so well adjusted to this idea of how things should be and stresses people out and takes a huge toll on our mental health. We become so competitive and caught up with who we are supposed to be that we forget to have compassion for others and we lose our spark in life, our sense of wonder and curiosity. Once we lose our spark of life, then what? We become depressed, bored, and in search for the spark we lost so long ago.

That’s not how I believe it should be. Being different is something to celebrate, to embrace. We shouldn’t all fit into the same bubble or have our lives all look the same. Going against the grain doesn’t make you some terrible person. It makes you different, it makes you love life more.

Where I am trying to go with this is that you should be your own person and never shame someone else for being their own person. Give people equal chances regardless if they’re like you or not. Stop trying to be successful and focus more on just living life. We only get one life and I would rather live it fully than waste it trying to compete and be successful to meet society's standards.