Just be you

Cool Talk Me Up with Swaga Mama
Do you stress over not having a trendy school bag that everyone else has got? Or possibly it is a new shoe that just says you are it and you are the only one without a pair. Possibly your source of constant embarrassment is your cheap copycat mobile phone handset when everyone else has got genuine and expensive smart phones.
Do you believe that everyone is laughing at you because you do not have that thing which everyone else appears to have? Would you do anything to get it, and I mean anything?

If you have been saying yes to the above questions then count yourself among the victims of peer pressure. It is very easy to believe that peer pressure is when your friends practically force you into taking alcohol, smoking, teen sex and other behaviours like that.

But it is the pressure that stresses you because you want to fit in and be seen to be moving with the times and trends. Not that the feeling is wrong. It is human nature to want to be accepted and admired by other people.

But it when we become driven by that need instead of doing what we want that it becomes a destructive thing. Sometimes that leads us to make bad choices that we may never recover from.

When you feel that you will do anything to get that bag or pair of shoes do you realize what you are saying? That is how many teens have drifted into dating older men and women. They do it just so that they can have some fancy items so that they can be like everyone else, or better.

But what you should remember is that it is not what you have but who you are inside which matters. Do you really want to be defined by the clothes you wear, the handset you use and the hairstyle on your head?

Would you not rather be the special person who stands out and says, “I am different because I do what I want, not what other people think I should”?

You can spend all your time trying to impress other people and never be satisfied because there are always others who do it better. Or you can become a confident teen who knows exactly who they are and loves the face in the mirror.

Just be you and your life will be happy.