Liking yourself can be hard. Let alone, loving yourself. Especially in Today’s World. The minute you like yourself, five other qualifications appear to satisfy. It’s a cruel world. But it is your job to find the good in it and that can only be done by yourself. And your parents, who will always tell you that you look great no matter what!

It’s not just about appearance. It’s about how you build and mold yourself. For the longest of time, I had put on a mask and been someone else who was liked by people. I was the happy, hyper, crazy, and positive person. I was unable to be quiet or serious without freaking people out. No one knew that I cried almost every night and woke up with a smile, ready to go and perform. It caught up with me and made me crash and burn hard. I am glad it did. Of course, in the moment when it did, I was MAD. Two years later that is, I am happy.

I learned something. Something BIG. While building yourself, you will crash and burn but you will fly eventually. I have built myself twice already. Me putting on that mask was not building myself, it was creating a persona that was accepted by everyone. There is a difference. It takes time and love for yourself. It takes willpower. It takes nurturing. It takes guts.

Becoming who I am from who I was. I am proud and changed for the better. I stopped giving people the power to decide who I was going to be in my life. But it takes courage to enact that. It takes willpower to push against the tide of people. I am still building and molding. But I am not wearing a mask. And that is my biggest accomplishment.

People will leave you. People will destroy you. People will laugh at you. People will yell at you. People will forget you. People will break you. People will try to test your tolerance against them. You are not their puppet, so cut those strings off. So many people have pushed me down and tore me down over the years. It would affect me for a while then I would go back to being who I was.  Like when you know you are not a bad person, why do you believe it when people leave? This is about you and you only.

So many times, I have been tempted to become a hard rock but I failed. It makes me laugh every time I have failed. Like why should I let people control me and let them win? I love to win by the way so when I lose, I am a sore loser. Why are you changing for people? (unless they are family then they probably have a point) But seriously, why? You shouldn’t let people change you, unless you are an asshole, then please change. Like get over yourself and be nice.

I know some people prefer to be a rock. They do it to protect themselves from getting hurt. Or they don’t trust people. Or they don’t want to be “vulnerable”. Or they don’t have expectations from people. And yada yada yada blah blah. You might as well pray to God that you are a rock in your next birth. I’m not saying to open up to everyone but I am saying that after a certain time frame of knowing someone and building a trust, open up to them. Do it for yourself. Not for them.

It’s about you. Not them. Become someone who you would love to be around. Fall in love with yourself. Make yourself grow. Whether it means talking it out, expressing emotions, dancing around like a doodoo, singing like a seal, venting like the hulk in a secluded place, or whatever floats your boat. You should never be ashamed of who you are and building yourself to be. You hold the remote control of your life. The people just come to watch for sometime. 

Indian Chameleon’s Obiter Dictum for the Day
Don’t change because of people. Change because you want to.