Fruit Salad

I’d be lying if I told you anybody was surprised when I came out. I mean, they’d been calling it for years. It was old news to what seemed to be everybody but myself. In the words of my sister, “I always knew you’d be a big fruit!”

Coming out wasn’t that big of a deal for me, though. I could write an entire essay about how much I struggled, how many challenges I faced, how much I’ve overcome. I could do all that, but I’d be lying, to my readers, and to myself.

What is true, though, is how much others have struggled with their sexuality, and, more importantly, with being outed. In my school, from January of 2014 up until the time of writing, four people have been dragged out of the closet. These people are my friends. These people are my enemies. But more importantly, these people are my inspiration.

Four people have had to face something that they had no plans on dealing with. Four people were unexpectedly thrown into the limelight, into the center of unwanted attention. They’ve faced the critical, and the hypocritical.

I wasn’t. I never dealt with the trauma they did. The emotional torment they not only went through, but went through and came out of stronger as a person is something I’ll never experience. I have nothing to compare to. All I can do is imagine.

I know, though, that I can relate. My parent’s divorce and my father’s remarriage into a family I don’t get along with has been one of the most defining things in my life for as long as I can remember. There’s no scale for pain, and what each person has experienced impacts them differently. Seeing what my friends and enemies have gone through, I choose not to see it as a tragedy. Instead, I look at it as an opportunity to improve. If they can triumph, then so can I, no matter how trivial my challenges may be in comparison.

Simply put, I choose on a daily basis to better myself. What could trip me up, I don’t allow to. I look at the trials and tribulations I face, and take as much positivity from them as I can. As corny and stereotypical as it may seem, it’s true to me. I am the person I am because of what I’ve experienced.

For that, I’m lucky. I’m lucky enough to be able to say that I am proud of the person I am today. I like who I am. I’m comfortable in my own skin. I wouldn’t have it any other way.