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By Cheryl Mattox Berry
I’ve watched with pride and amazement as two of my nieces, ages 14 and 16, have grown into confident, opinionated, selfless and respectful young ladies. Why am I surprised? These days, it’s easy to get swept up in a pop culture that worships narcissism, outrageousness and stupidity.
How do you maintain your individuality when everyone else is caught up living in the moment? Answer: Establish that you are your own person. You do that by having an opinion, voicing what is on your mind and insisting that others respect your views as you do theirs.
You’ve heard the saying, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” It’s true. I’m sure you know someone who hates something one day but loves it the next because another person has influenced her? A week later, she hates it again because somebody else said something negative about it.
Your views on a subject or your attitude about someone shouldn’t be based on what your friends think. Nor should you worry about how they’ll react if you disagree with them. How you arrive at your conclusions and how they arrived at theirs might be completely different. Friends should be able to disagree without it hurting their friendship.
Being your own person takes courage. It’s much easier to just go along with everyone else no matter what they’re doing or saying. However, following the crowd hinders your growth and development. It creates a dependent person who is constantly looking to someone else to make a decision.
Along the road to adulthood, you’ll meet all kinds of people who’ll expect you to behave a certain way. You’re not in this world to live up to their expectations. Become an independent thinker, the person others go to for advice and leadership.