Be Yourself

I desperately wanted to fit in.  It got me into A LOT of trouble. 
If you thought he was cute, I thought he was cute.  If you wanted to wear orange, I would wear it even if I hated it.  I wanted the shoes even if they hurt my feet.  I think I might have been almost 30 before I had a thought of my own!
I could take years of therapy trying to figure out WHY I was this way.  Some may chalk it up to simple teenage peer pressure, others might say it was a deep longing for security and acceptance.  I choose to just say I was an ignorant kid and thank God learned a lot and grew out of most of it. 
Mom always told me "Be yourself".  I didn't know really what that meant at the time because I had no idea WHO I WAS, but over the years it has come to my mind again and again.  "Melissa, be yourself".  And honestly, at this time in my life I like me.