I'm finally there. I've reached the point where I can love myself. I accept myself as I am. I don't have to apologize for who I am to anyone. I don't have to explain why I believe what I believe, or why I do what I do. I don't have to live up to anyone's expectations but my own. I believe that if I am content and proud of who I am and what I strive to be, those around me will also be content. My expectations for myself are the most important as they are what will bring me true happiness. This happiness will be reflected…and those who love me will also be happy. I have found that if I can accept myself, I can begin to accept others. If I can accept the humanity of those I love…they will accept mine in return. I can love truly and deeply because I love myself truly and deeply. I can reject those who are ingrates and feel no guilt. I can be who I am and I am not going to worry about the opinions of those people who simply don't matter. I can discern the difference between those who deserve my love and respect and those who drain me. I will ignore the latter.

The whole wide world and everyone in it was never intended to be loved and respected by any single person. This is a ridiculous notion and I am not going to try to pretend that I am capable of this unnatural feat. The world is full of evil people. It is full of people who do not deserve my sympathies. I am entitled to feel love for those who deserve it and disdain for those who deserve that.

My faults are not faults at all. They are a part of me; they are what make me who I am. I have no regrets for who I am…not anymore. I am by no means claiming to be perfect, far from it. I am claiming to be human. I am not going to apologize for the things that make me, ME. I cannot apologize for being human.

I strive to better myself by actively recognizing when I have wronged someone I love or myself. I strive to repair those wrongdoings and ensure that they don't happen again. I also realize I will never stop making mistakes. I will never be able to make everyone I love happy all the time. I feel like I have discovered and accepted my humanity, in the most literal sense.

I will never be everything that everyone believes that I should be. I strive to be everything I believe I should be. Those who love me will accept me for who I am. They will realize I am only human like they are…I make mistakes like they do. They will love me despite these mistakes-or they will leave me. This is the way that humanity and true love works. Their reaction to my mistakes will also tell me a lot about who they really are and how they feel about me. I will always know who really loves me. Those who love me will help to make me the best person I can be, and I will reciprocate those actions.

I am only human. I love myself. I love that I am unlike anyone else I know. I am embracing my individuality, my unique nature, my peculiarities, and I know those who honestly love me do too.

I no longer want to destroy myself. I am a beautiful, wonderful, unique and kind soul. The world would not be the same without me in it. It's taken me almost 28 years to realize this. It's taken me a long time to say this phrase and mean it. I know that there are some people who will doubt my authenticity, but this is on them. I am responsible for acting as I speak. I am the one who must not be the hypocrite I despise so much. They are simply responsible for believing in me.

I am going to keep loving the people and things that I love. I will continue to care for the things that I care for. That which brings me joy will never become a negative in my life, no matter what anyone else believes about it. I am going to stop trying to please the rest of the world and focus on those that I love and myself. I want to focus on what matters to me, whether it's an idea, a thing, a person or some other tangible or intangible object or idea. I am who I am, and that's a wonderful thing, and it will never change because of someone else's disdain. If someone chooses to turn their back on me-it speaks of them, not me. This is who I am, take me or leave me…love me or hate me…but always be true.