Whether you like it or not

The first thing you have to know about being who you are really meant to be is that sometimes other people aren't going to like you. That's life. Not everyone has to like everyone else and sometimes the people that do like you don't have to like you all the time. You should learn to deal with this early on. It makes things easier.

I figured it out about twelve years ago. I turned it into an art form about ten years ago when I moved to Florida. I broke out of this shell I had been living in all of my life and found a wild child inside. I colored my hair blue or green or purple. I went out drinking till all hours of the night. I made "friends" with people I would prefer my child never know I once knew. Looking back on it though I know it was a phase in my quest to find myself and yet at the same time that phase lead me to find a big part of myself.

You know what happens when you walk around with blue streaks in your red hair? People stare... a lot! And they judge and they whisper and in the long run a lot of them don't like you. When that happens you have to make a choice. Do you go back to who is more acceptable so they approve or do you learn to accept that not everyone is going to like you 100% of the time. Me? I learned to thrive when people stared at me. Yup, I am different and proud of it. Would you like to take a picture so you never forget me?

I don't dye my hair blue or green or purple anymore. Sometimes I miss that about myself, that wild child. Most of the time though, I know that child grew up into a strong woman. I've learned something though along the way.

You don't have to like me. If you don't like me that's your loss. If you like me but don't like me sometimes, well I can live with that. Sometimes I say things you don't like. Sometimes I do things you don't like. Sometimes life sucks. Pick yourself up by your shoelaces and move on. Sometimes you don't like me and sometimes I don't like you.

That's life... whether you like it or not.