Rule 10: Embrace Your Weirdness

Hello and welcome to part 10 of my 10 Rules for Life article series! In this series, I share my life rules, a set of guidelines that make life awesome, meaningful, and free of unnecessary problems. We've now come to the end of the series and shall cover rule 10, which is:

Embrace your weirdness.

Meaning: to be you, be as you as you can be. Be an individual. Be weird.

I've come to realize that of all the things I did when I was younger, I'm most proud of the ones that were an expression of my weirdness. I'm proud that I had it in the teenage me to proclaim my love for Bounty bars when everyone else hated them. I'm proud that I was an outsider who didn't fit in. I'm proud that I read biology books for fun as a 9-year-old, when others read Nancy Drews. Daring to be different in spite of being bullied for it is a sign that you have the capability to do things others don't. (Plus, it builds character. I'm actually and wholeheartedly grateful for everyone who ever teased me about my weirdness!)

On the other hand, the things I kind of regret (as in, not really regret, but don't really feel proud of, either) are things that I did out of peer pressure, like going to prom, creating social media accounts (all of which I have since deleted), and wearing Benetton clothes, just to name a few.

What's more, I've really started to own my weirdness, letting it show whenever I can. I've come to understand that there's no point in hiding your uniqueness. By showing it, you show the world that you know who you are and that you're not trying to be something you're not. This makes you not only appear more confident, but also be completely confident in your own skin.

So do yourself a favor and wear that cape and that wand to the Secrets of Dumbledore premiere.

RK

P.S. All of the 10 Rules for Life articles can be found here.