This past week, I was stressing out over what to write about. Being that this is my first writing piece, I wanted it to be interesting. In order to get more views or likes, my first piece has to be something cool, inspiring, relevant, funny... or so I thought. But after coming up with countless of ideas that seemed good at the time, only to realize two minutes later that I did not want to write about them, I realized that I was just coming up with ideas that I thought would get more views or likes.

Is this what the world has come to? Views or likes equal popularity, and therefore success? I could not believe that I had just become guilty of wanting my writing to appeal to an audience, but for reasons that I knew I was not being true to myself. And with that, I finally figured out what I wanted to write about: A Letter to Myself. This letter is to those who have always felt that they are not good enough, those who are always wanting to please people, who care deeply about what others think, and feel worthless in a world where social media and the number of likes you get determines your self-worth.

Where do I even begin? I am one of those who can put a check near all those descriptions that I just described. The truth of the matter is that up until three years ago, I was someone who needed to live up to people's expectations and standards in order to feel good about myself. In other words, satisfying other people's idea of me was necessary for me to be satisfied with myself. I wish I could point to a definitive point in my life that changed me into the person I am today, but to be honest, I don't even know myself. All I can say is that the moment I stopped caring about what other people thought about me, stopped comparing myself to others, the moment I put myself as a priority, and started doing me, I knew I was no longer the person I feared I would end up being.

Even though I sometimes fall back into either comparing myself to or putting others before me, I remind myself that it's time to stop living for other people. I only have one life, so it is time to design the life I want and live it. Learning to stop comparing myself, caring about others' opinions, or trying to be someone I'm not is something that is A) ridiculous; B) A waste of Time; C) both A and B. Ding ding ding, if you guessed C, you're correct! It is both ridiculous and just a waste of time to try and be someone else, always living up to fulfill standards.

I urge you to stop what you are doing, sit down, have a conversation with yourself, and ask yourself who you are and what you want in life. Design the life you want and just go for it. Don't think about what other people such as your friends, your family, or your dog or cat may think of you because while they may be struggling to do them, here you are wanting to please them. Be you in all your infinite, unique, glorious self. Who knows, maybe that'll be something that people will give a thumbs up to.