Weird

"Why fit in when you were born to stand out?" -- Dr. Seuss 

The other day someone called me "weird" as if it's a bad thing.  I try not to take the words of others personally and I realize there is truth in the fact that, yes, I am weird.  I've never been someone who wanted to fit in with others.  I always found myself hanging out with people who were also judged as weird and some who were even considered total "outcasts."  That's just who I was.  I enjoy people who are true and genuine, not people who pretend to be something they aren't just so they can be accepted by other people who are pretending to be something they aren't.  If that makes us weird then that's okay, embrace it.  Weird is good.  Normal is boring.

I realize that those who judge me are those who have never taken the time to get to know me.  They don't understand the emotional pain and suffering I have gone through during many years of my life.  The weirdness, the lack of desire to be accepted, the dumb jokes I make, the standing up for things I believe in are just some of the ways I have learned how to cope with my depression.   I also suffer with social anxiety and that makes being in public and around people too difficult to be normal. 

I always tell my kids that you never know what someone else is going through so just be nice.  Even those that seem really put together and happy may be battling something we know nothing about.  So the next time you want to call someone weird, or make any sort of judgement at all ... take the time to get to know them.  Or, just don't say anything at all.  Ever.