I think learning not to care what other people think is very important. It can help you learn to be yourself. My experience with this concept has helped me so much. Before, when I cared what others thought, I would try so hard to get people to like me. I had popular friends and always fit in. Then I realized I did things like my friends did and those things weren’t really me. One time I remembered is when all my friends had pretty hairstyles and I wanted to have it to. So I went and got my hair cut and fixed like theirs and found out that it didn’t look good on me and I wasn’t happy with it. I did things like this until the 8th grade. Whenever my friends got something new or they thought something was cool, I would get it too or do it too, but deep down I really didn’t think it was cool. So , one day, I bought something that I liked and showed it to my friends, but they didn’t like it. After that happened, I was sad and thought none of my friends liked me. A few days later, I realized I was happier having something I liked instead of happier having what other people liked. I continued doing things I liked and found out who my true friends were. Also I learned I was happier being myself instead of trying to act like other people. Being a follower and always trying to fit in is not good. Being your own person is much better.
I learned to be myself from my older friends and my family. They taught me that if someone doesn’t like you for who you really are then find different friends. Having this experience in the past helps me now in the present and I use it everyday. I was willing to change my old ways and it turned out making me a happier and a better person. I want to teach other people, like my younger sister and some of my other friends, this someday. Whenever I feel like I am doing things that I don’t like I look back on this experience and it stops me from doing it. I learned that in order for me to learn something, I needed the time to reflect on my experience and that I needed to be supported by people who helped me be me. I wish that everyone had the same opportunities to find themselves and be who they truly are.