Be Your Beautiful Self!

I think for many of us when we were younger we wanted to fit in and feel as though we were accepted. In middle school and high school many of us wanted to know what it would be like to be popular or to sit at the "cool" kids table. However, to do this, we had to fit into that group. We may had to alter our personality and clothes in order to put on a front. Changing ourselves to fit-in at the time seemed necessary to being accepted.

What we didn't realize is that we were already cool in our own way. We didn't need to be included in a group where our authentic selves would have been excluded. We didn't need validation from those who didn't deserve it. And we didn't need to hide the most amazing parts of ourselves to makes others feel better about themselves. What we needed was to recognize the hidden gems within ourselves and treasure them.

Story Time:

As cringey as it is, I remember a younger 13 year-old Trin (Me) finally getting to sit at the popular girls table and being an accidental trend setter with silver nail polish and (accidentally) wearing the gym sweats backwards. At first, I liked the idea of being popular because I wanted more friends. I had moved to a new town and left my best friends behind.

At this new school, I liked the compliments I would get from being popular by association and the way that others would copy my accidental trends. I liked how others would come to me for advice and would actually listen to me. However, I quickly realized that even though I was popular by association, I wasn't being true to myself and therefore wasn't happy. I wasn't being Trinity.

At the time, I was trying to be like my two amazing older sisters. The Wonder Woman athlete and the effortlessly beautiful cheerleader. I played basketball like my eldest sister and then I had attempted to try out for cheerleading like my middle sister, but my mother was wise and said "no." She knew that my end game was to be like my sisters and didn't like it.

In school, I would often try to dress like my sisters and talk like my sisters. I would try to mimic what they did. However, inside I was the same Trinity that I had always been. Even though I did my best to be like them and I got some results, I wasn't happy.

The truth is, I am a complete weirdo and I love it! I like to try all sorts of hobbies and watch supernatural shows and act silly. It's who I am. Yes, I love the Star Wars prequel movies especially the Clone Wars series! And yes I love to watch the Marvel movies. I love to learn history and I dislike homework. I like to swim with a mermaid tail and make weird videos. I love everything music, mermaid and turtles! I love to write stories! I love being an artist. I love martial arts and archery. If I could, I would be a Jedi. I am a Pepsi and Coke lover. I repeat too many lines from the Holy Grail movie. I am a sucker for blue-eyes and I can never get Cielito Lindo out of my head. I am competitive and I can be quite entertaining at any given moment. I love Jesus! This is all ME and I LOVE it!

We are all different and it is beautiful. Everytime I learn something more about a person such as their secret talents, hobbies, likes and dislikes, I automatically realize how little I actually know about them. The person I see is often only 30% of who they actually are. They hide the most amazing parts about them because they are afraid to be judged and ridiculed. They want to fit in and be like everyone else when in reality there is no normality at all.

Each person is like a snowflake, beautiful in design! How boring would the world be if we all looked the same, behaved the same and had the same talents and likes/dislikes? The more I see of a person's authentic self, the more I'm inspired by them. They are happy and it is evident! They love themselves and accept themselves. They are the type of people who can walk into a room and own it! They turn heads because of their confidence!

It seems that we all have this idea of what we are supposed to look like and act like but this is all just a perceived notion.

My friends, you are unique! You are beautiful! You are strong! Own who you are. You have talents, ambitions, interests, personality traits that are unique to you. Do you know that others secretly look at you and say, "gosh, I wish I was more like her/him." I know I have looked at my friends and thought that. I know you have thought that at least once in your life. Thus, be happy with you are! Be your authentic self! Be brave! Be confident! There is no one who will ever be you and that is pretty dang cool!