When giving people compliments, some may give several different answers. Some people say, “Thank you,” some people joke and say things like, “I know I am,” and other people say, “Whatever, no I’m not.”

Everyone’s confidence levels are on totally different terms. So why can some people accept themselves as an individual and some people don’t?

Self-esteem can be a key element in the mix. I think the people that have the lowest self-esteem levels tend to not accept the compliments because they feel like they don’t deserve it. They know they aren’t perfect, so they dwell on that fact much more than most people. So for them, it’s harder to accept how amazing they are.

They may have low esteem because they follow what everyone else is doing, or make it look like they are confident with who they are but they’re not. Trying to fit someone else’s image of who you’re supposed to be can basically take all of your individuality and shove it into a trash can. Why fit someone else’s image anyway? It’s pointless to sit there and try to be what the world tells you to be.

I’ll let you in on a secret: all of those trends you’re following were created by someone. Meaning they decided that they wanted to show the world what they had to offer, and people loved it!

You could be a world changer instead of being a world follower. Besides, your ideas are really cool and most of us think we’ll be ridiculed by them. No, tell people what you have to say! If the first person doesn’t like your idea, I know someone along the line will.

I’ve come to realize that the saying, “Everyone’s special in their own way,” is actually very true. I used to see it like, “Well if everyone’s special then that’s not really special,” so it totally cancels each other out. But now I see it in the way that everyone is truly their own person, and no matter how close you are in personality from someone, you’re still the only person that can exhibit certain talents and thoughts not like any other person in the world. So embrace who you are because you’re not just another number unless you decide to make yourself one.

15rarthur@usd489.com