“Okay today’s the day I stop listening to everyone else and do what I want.”

It’s not really as simple as waking up one say with a completely different mindset. Like everything else it takes time and there’s a time when someone has to stand up for who they are, how they cope with things and live their life for themselves..

This may be based on personal experiences, but anyone who has ever been labeled as something, and suddenly that’s all people see from then on may relate. It was something I first noticed when I got my tattoos. I can see how a 14-year-old making those decisions is unconventional to many, but in the end it was still my choice. Yes they are real, yes I know they are permanent, and yes it’s been a few years years and I still don’t regret my choice. The same goes for for what I write. It’s controversial and based on a student who doesn’t perceive the world in the same way as others.

If everyone is constantly making you feel bad about everything you, how long is it before you lose total control of your life? Don’t do this, don’t do that, do it this way not your way, is something I hear practically everyday. Parents, friends, extended family, teachers, government, police. I’m now afraid to think for myself because if I do, it will be all on me but I can’t live for anyone else. This is something more important than we will ever learn in school; we have to fail in order to learn what is right for ourselves.

I didn’t write this in hope that people will stop telling me what to do, but for those who also change for other people instead of themselves. I will not change for anyone, but I will grow with them. I will not be a subject to conformity. There’s going to be day where I look back at all of this and I want to remember myself as someone who stood up for themselves because at the end of the day the only person who can truly be there is you.

Sincerely,

Sydney