The world we live in today pressures us into doing all sorts of things to impress other people and to keep up with other people’s expectations, yet, we could be perfectly fine with who we are but give in to what others deem ‘perfect’. I know it’s not easy being oneself when there’s a constant demand for perfection, and when most people make you feel like you’re not perfect. What I think people need to realise is that pretending to be someone you are not can make you lose yourself. Over time, and with a lot of thought, you will understand who you truly are, and ‘being someone else’ will cease to make sense. That said, I hear a lot of people saying, “fake it, till you make it”, and I’m still trying to make sense of this mindset. I found out that people today are so concerned about what people think about them, and too eager to match people’s expectations, that they are willing to change every bit of themselves that is not ‘perfect’ or ‘good enough’. If you’re so eager to match people’s expectations and feed up on everything they say, then you will never be truly happy because you’re trying to fix things about you that are already fine. I believe one way to not care about what others think of you is self-love. It doesn’t mean that everyone will treat you the way you want to be treated. It means that you won’t let them change the way you see yourself, nor will you stick around for them to destroy you. It requires seeing perfection in yourself, for you have nothing to change. You’ll just have to accept the fact that you cannot be what everyone expects or wants you to be, especially if they don’t accept the real you. It’s worth it, given the fact that even though you are not perfect, at least you’re not fake. The writer is a Grade 10 student at Nu-Vision High School
