Are you okay with being different or... ?

Actually, i have no problem being different and never had. i like(d) being different. It shows i have character and am true to the real me. i don't see a need to pretend to be someone i am not. Why bother? i don't care if people don't like me. i don't care if they don't like my look. It is what it is and i am who i am, so they can all bite me.

When I was really young I always wanted to belong but I was a quiet kid and the ones around me were all very outgoing and noisy so I was different. As I grew I started to like being different. I was pretty in high school and I was involved in a lot of things so I was pretty well known but I didnt want to be with the in crowd. At that time I went through my rebelious stage. I refused to join them for anything and I was like the underdog talking and mixing with all the kids that were picked on and not "the cool crowd". Now Im just happy with who I am. I get along with some people and with some I dont. Thats life, Im okay with it. No two people are the same and why would you want to be like someone else when you can be your own person.

nope im not ok with being one..and i dont wish to be one..i always one to be myself all the time the real me even when im still in school...maybe its tough on you coz your a guy and need to be strong and go with the flow..and that i understand..

i was like you in school joey. i used to get in with the wrong crowd of people just for fun as if u didnt in my school every one used to take the p**s out of you. thats why i am in college now. am basically doing now what i had missed in school. i get threw out of school at 15yrs old for smoking in the toilets during lesson time which unfourtanetly i got caught. before i was in with the wrong people but now i have realised its not the right thing to do if i wanna go far in life so now i just act like myself, who i usually am.

For some kids, they need to hide their true identity and act like a different person because they want to be part of the "IN" group. But as they continued to be within this group, slowly, they will forget about who they are really. For the most part of my childhood days, there were many bad as well as good memories. I never tried to pretend to be another person. My friends love me for who I am. You have the prerogative to show your true self to selected few friends. A lot of people might not understand you for being you, Joey...but they need to know that they have their own flaws too. We tried to respect a person for who they are. I can't change myself either if people don't like me. I am who I am.

When I was younger, I always desired to belong. I hated those days. Right now, that is one of my gauge to know whether or not I'm maturing. I believe I've grown up by outgrowing my wanting to always be "jiggy with others". I now love being in tune with other people but sometimes I like isolating myself at times when everybody seems to be doing the same things already just to look cool. It gets me into trouble sometimes, and some people think I'm a bit unsociable. But I dont really care as long as the people I really care about know who I truly am. We can't really please everybody.

I love to be different, who wants to be ordinary, ordinary is boring. I like to be spontaneous, and unpredictable, I like to keep them guessing.

Ohh yess..The finding of yourself stages..what a mess that was huh? Iremeber in 7th grade is when it all went downhill..i wanted to be accepted so much that i made myself turn into soemone I wasnt..then in 10th grade..yes that long..I started to relize that i didnt need the fake frieds in my life..and slwoly started making my own choices on how i wanted to dress not what i shoudl dress like..then by senior year i was all me..and still am lol..I wore what i wanted..told people what i thought and didnt care if i wasnt cool for it..had my own style in everything..and stuck up for those that were being bullied..I lost myself along the way in my young twenties..when i just..i dont know what happened..I drank..somked pot..partied all the time....but then I got prganant..and stopped..danced a 180..and became the eprson i am today..:)

When I was much younger I had a very big problem about being different since kids used to pick on me a lot as a child because of my race and facial features and name. It was very hurtful and did not like the way I was but now I only have a slight problem with being different as it is hard to find a date or find someone that will like me for me and not my race or other physical features. Otherwise I am happy and doing the things that I want to do with my life and having fun.

I have always been fine with being different.Way back in my high school days (the dinosauer ages) most of my classmates drank and smoked and partied on weekends. They knew better than to invite me...it was an unspoken. However, we were good friends at school and church youthgroup. They respected me and I did not stand in judgement of them. We agreed to disagree. Now granted, I was not in the list of 'most popular' and all that jazz, but that was fine with me.

During my entire lifetime I have always felt that I was different. Even while I was in high school I was considered to be different. At times it bothered me quite a bit to be different and other times I was completely fine with it. I think when I was younger it used to bother me more because people would say cruel things about me or make a joke about me.. And everyone else would laugh.. And back then I began to look down at myself & used to just dislike being so different compared to others.. There we're to many times where I just wanted to fit in back then sometimes quite honestly.. I know now that I have grown up that.. I like people in general who are different and not like the majority of society. I am proud to be one of those few out there who are considered to be so very 'different.' I know that I am the type of person who appreciates variety in someone. A person tends to stand out to me when they do their own thing apart from society. I used to feel so ashamed of myself when someone would sit there and make me feel out of place! I would question why I acted the way I did and all that and I felt very much like I was only alive so others could make fun of me. I began to really think I was the problem. I dislike thinking about my younger years as I remember so many times I would try to change myself just so I wouldn't be considered different anymore.. None of those things ended up working though.. I found out sooner or later that.. All you can do is be yourself.. And that if people aren't willing to accept that.. That it truly is there loss in the long run for not willing to get to know you just because they may see you as being so 'different.' I know that after I had been made fun of for being so different so many times that.. Soon after that I got over feeling like being different was wrong. Why should I have to measure up to someone else's expectations when my own should fall into consideration before anything else? I should be able to be happy for the person I was and for the person I turned into. Thankfully I believe that I am a stronger and better person but still as "different" as I always was. I love that I can be different and still be accepted at the same time by people.. Even if that is only very few people.. I think a person who is different is much more interesting and exciting than someone who is just a cookie cutter of someone else. I know they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but I'm not one to believe a copycat has a mind of their own. I really appreciate a person who has a mind of their own and their own opinions. That for me makes up a person who is "different" or someone who is living outside the box. In conclusion, I feel that a person who has a mind of their own and who the rest of society considers different is in fact one of the most interesting people I can think of. They usually are the ones who are truly beautiful within.. The people who you can befriend who you know will not stab you in the back like so many others out there.. I like to believe that is the reason why a lot of my life I have been looked at as different, because I have my own mind and my own opinions! . . Thanks for allowing me to share! xx

I PREFER to be different. When I was a kid,being called "Weird" was a compliment, because it meant I wasnt just like everyone else. I like to carve my wn path through the woods, and make my own mark. I don't want to conform, I don't want to be normal" I want to be ME whatever that may be.

I was ok through grade school but when I began middle school I started to mature very early and very quickly. I was probably the first kid in the class to shave and thought it cool to grow a mustache over the summer between the sixth and seventh grades. I also had chest hair soon thereafter and was voted the guy with the prettiest legs in 8th grade. why that, who knows....they were hairy but beyond that they were just legs. I felt very different during this time. Guys didn't think I was cool, girls kind of did but that would make it worse with my guy friends because they would kind of be jealous. It totally ruined my school days then. I started partying with older kids, sneaking out and sleeping with older girls and eventually getting a girl pregnant. Unfortunatley becoming a father in ninth grade did nothing to help the situation. Eventually, I was allowed to transfer schools and really start over. My last couple years in school then were much better. But my memories are pretty well shaded by those earlier years.

I'm just me. If anyone doesn't like me as I am then tough. I'm not gonna change who I am or my values just because someone doesn't like the way I look or what I believe. I'm fine with being different if thats how people perceive me. I think we're all different in different ways. It's called individuality - unfortunately, that scares some people and thats where the bullying comes into play. Society has this set image of what "normal" is, and anyone who doesn't conform to that is perceived as "different" and therefore dangerous. It's not true of course, but thats the image that society has painted, and it's sad.

yeah i believe we have to undergo different life stages in order for us to realize and face the realities that life may bring every step of the way. like me right now i think im on the so called quarter life crisis. although it may not be as easy as i first thought it was i still was able to overcome them through constant support from my parents and friends and from the one that i love. and after overcoming a hurdle in your life you'll feel more alive and refreshed and fulfilled.. i guess that's how it is and always will.

I've been different all my life. When I was young I tried to hide it, now I don't care. I find people react better to your differences if you are proud of them.

I wasnt okay being different before when i was younger, coz people will outcast me. But still i stood out among the rest and made them angrier at me. when i went to college, it became different. They love me being unique! and i learned there's nothing wrong about being unique. i wasnt weird at all, just a bit better than them i guess.

i guess peer pressure is a natural thing during high school and i'm amazed you started getting real at an early age. i know a lot of people who's actions are dictated by their cautious need to be accepted. so what if you're different? as long as you're happy and you're not pretending to be someone you're not.

Thinking back I was more happy with who I was than not. I remember going through a few phases where what others thought of me was a bit more important, but mostly I didn't care much. Usually my friends were fine with the way I was and the ones that weren't my friends , I didn't worry much with what they thought. I had a group of friends that were completely different from each other so it was hard for someone to start picking on the one that was different because they all were :)

Hi! What you said takes a lot of guts and that's cool! I grew up doing my own thing too and it was my choice. But i also understand what you said since there are as they say, "Different strokes for different folks!" Sometimes we need to go thru several changes before we find one that we are comfortable with. And if we're lucky, as you are, we find and discover that we like and love who we are as a decent human being. So...keep smilin!