Encouragement to be yourself

On social media we see a lot of quotes saying “Be yourself”, but we do not know what that means. We are given examples of other teens of our age: “Oh look! She did better in her Maths test, why can't you do it too?”. That leads to a society made of the same mentality, but different looks.

Different means not the same as another. Different means are unique and special. If we are taught to be like other kids of our age, that “different” loses its meaning. For society to grow, we need to be ourselves.

We need to be encouraged to express our feelings more, to not be afraid of speaking what we are thinking of. This fear is born from the critical way of seeing things and from overthinking what will happen if we open our mouth to speak. And that, in my opinion, it’s completely wrong.

Every one of us was born to do something special. It’s time for us to stop being afraid of what other people might think of our actions and start doing what we love. You will not change the world just by staying at home, going to school, and doing what you are told to do.

Barack Obama and his wife Michelle were so loved by the Americans because they were different. They brought a new vision to the country they were leading and they started from nothing. They were people just like us. They went to a public school, they had ordinary friends and played outside all day long, but they made a big difference.

Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize for Chemistry and Physics. She changed the world with her research. She never gave up on her dream of becoming a scientist.

And these are just two examples of people who believed that they could make a difference. So I am going to ask again the question: Why fit in when you were born to stand out? Because you were told that you could not be someone if you keep painting, or singing or acting? Because you can only succeed if you are a lawyer or a doctor or an architect?

You became someone the day that you were born, it’s your choice if you want to make a difference by being yourself or if you want to be just like everybody else.

Editor- Alexia Popescu