I constantly kick my own rear when I think of the time I wasted trying to make others accept me. I had this desire to be accepted by others, for folks to love me just as much as I loved them; for them to see how great I really was on the inside. It took years of rejection and maturity to realize that it didn't really matter what they thought or believed about me. What matters the most is what I think and believe about myself. I have since realized that the insecurity that I was feeling all those years had nothing to do with anyone else but everything to do with me. In reality, the people I was trying so hard to be please were not necessarily nice people themselves.

Life and age has taught me the importance of accepting myself, the gravity of truly expressing who and all I was created to be and to give no weight to what others might think I ought to be. Rob Liano said it well with this quote: "Self-respect, self-worth and self-love all start with self. Stop looking outside of yourself for your value."