It seems like, lately, I have been surrounded by people in my life who are struggling with the lack of acceptance from other people in their lives. I get it, I struggle with the same thing. It gets so old having to explain why you dress/act/think/talk the way you do. It feels like it is easier to just shut down and be left alone. But you know what? Frack that! The whole time you’re making allowances for others while they push and press upon you to conform to what they want, remember that they refuse to do the same for you.

It is during these times that we need to remember the ones who love and accept us as we are. As one of my favorite sayings goes, “the ones who mind, don’t matter and the ones who matter, don’t mind.” I have to remind myself of that when I run into a situation where I am feeling judged or not accepted. It definitely makes a difficult situation easier to bear. Those are the ones who are your real support system. Unfortunately, for many of us, it is not blood… but not all family is blood, is it?

So, for all of the weirdos reading this, know that there are people out there who love and accept you for you. Your age, race, gender, sexuality, belief system and/or nationality doesn’t matter. It is important to surround yourself with these people to remind yourself that you do matter and the ones who don’t accept you simply are not worth your time. In short, the ones who matter, they are you true family.