The Art of Acceptance
Learning to be okay with where I am now.
I was walking home from school with my friend the other day. Since we couldn’t find a topic to discuss, we reminisced about the good times we had growing up, reflecting on where we were then and where we are now.
He talked about when we were in middle school, and how different the environment is compared to high school. How everybody wanted to be “popular” and “cool”.
That caught my attention.
I was one of those kids who tried hard to be cool, so I wanted to hear what he had to say.
He said, “When ‘popular’ kids are talking, everybody is listening to their conversation, and when someone popular insults you, the whole class will insult you too”.
He was right. Middle school was a hierarchy, and we were both at rock bottom. The only difference was that he was completely fine with it, and I wasn’t.
He learned that school wasn’t a hierarchy way before I did, which is embarrassing. He didn’t have a lot of friends and didn’t play any sports. But he had close friends who cared about him and he did stuff he enjoyed. He was happier than me, and in my opinion, more successful.
That’s the art of acceptance —
Being able to accept you’ll never be “cool” or “popular” sucks at first. But all that matters is that you do what you love. Because at the end of the day, it’s your loss if people’s opinions stop you from doing what you want to do. I still struggle with it even now.
“Cool” and “popular” don’t mean anything. Nobody cares if you’re the captain of the football team. Nobody cares if you have the most friends at school. What people in school do care about is if you’re a decent person and apply yourself to academics.
Life is short, and from my short conversation with my friend, I learned that you need to stop caring about what others think and just do what you love.
What’s stopping you? Life’s too short to worry about what people think.
Kids mature over time, and my friend and I did too. If there’s anything I’ve learned from my high school experience so far, it’s that nobody gives a crap.
Do what you love, with the people that you love. Because like I said before, it’s your loss if you let people’s opinions consume you.
