By Sanvi Gupta, published July 1st, 2022
Ugh! I wish I was good enough. Good enough to join that blonde hair club. But I am not blonde. That’s okay. I wish I was good enough to join that robotics club. But I can’t code efficiently yet. That’s fine too, maybe next time. I wish I was good enough to join the football club. That is no problem, we can try next year.
Have you ever felt pressured by others to look a certain way, or felt judged for not being as good as someone else in a particular area? Have you underestimated yourself and the abilities you have just because of the words of your so-called “Friends?” Have you ever been looked down upon, just because of your skin color, your weight, or your accent? I know I certainly have.
Our life is full of so many influences. A few of them are good ones while the others, not so much. We have the power to choose how we want to live our lives, despite other people’s choices. Yet, we don’t embrace this and do what our heart tells us to do. Instead, we listen to the bullies and to the people that want to ruin our future and our chances of being who we want to truly be. From the first day we were born, we have been told to follow our hearts and our dreams. But it looks like this never happens. We as a society have agreed upon the fact that we should judge one another as we need to have a specific look to “fit in” with the community. But that is an unfair world and I want to live in a world in which I can be who I want to be without having to live up to anyone’s standards and criteria. Instead, it should be my ideas and my values that should guide my world and my future.
In our lives, there is only one person who has been there to support us in our ups and even our downs in life, and that is your true hero. Today I will be talking about a very important skill I have learned in the past 13 years of my entire life from my dearest and fabulous mother, Self-Acceptance. My mom taught me to accept myself for who i was and to never let others words or actions impact me in my life. Imagine living in a world where everyone was the same person and had the same capabilities. We would not be able to share our skills with others and teach one another something new, instead, this world would be extremely boring as everyone would have nothing different from the person standing directly across from them. Therefore, learning and growing would be impossible.
When our world is full of diversity, it is a world full of various perspectives and opinions. When a task is completed by someone in the field of Chemistry and another person is expected to try out that field but has no interest in it, it is very hard for them to perform well in that specific task. It is not what they are inspired by and passionate about. Let’s look at an example to get a better understanding of this topic. If I wanted to present a speech in the same manner as my role model, Thomas, despite trying several times, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I will never be able to speak just like Thomas due to my individuality, my personality traits, and my characteristics. From this, we must understand that at the end of the day, we are different.
Remember to believe in yourself and who you are, because no one can replace you whether anyone likes it or not. We are all made to function and work differently from each other and if we try to compare ourselves to others and expect to turn out like others, we will be getting nowhere but jealousy. Strive to explore parts of yourself that you never knew were there and be ready to embrace your difference and make the best of what you have because you are unique in your ways.
In our lives, it is very hard to feel confident due to peer pressure and many other issues, but it is something we all must learn to overcome. Low self-confidence and self-esteem are something that many of us have struggled with at some point in our lives. Having little self-belief and not feeling confident in our abilities or appearance can have a huge impact on the way we live our lives, with some studies suggesting that those with low self-confidence are much more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and even suicidal thoughts. A lack of self-confidence is something tearing us all apart, but we must learn to not let others' actions and/or words affect our well-being in any way in our life. When we believe in ourselves and are confident with ourselves, others also believe in us.
We all are always wanting reassurance and need this attention from our families or our friends unconditionally. Whether it be an assignment grade we got or a quiz we got back, we must understand that we should not compete with others but rather try to do better in each attempt at a task given to us. Also, we must be able to recognize how to set goals which are S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) and have deadlines and aims targeted to realistic time slots. If we only work to impress others and make others proud of us, we’re letting ourselves down. We won’t experience the joy and satisfaction of working for countless hours to achieve our goals. Follow your heart and dreams with full passion because that will take you a very long way in life.