We Are Not Children

I want to see if you guys have felt this about people sharing their opinions with you, like it was a little off or wrong. It could have been the actual words or simply how it was said to you. Statements such as “Have you even tried…?” or “You know eye contact is the first step to connecting with people…” or even, “Why don’t you just talk to him, he’s a nice person.” There are hundreds of other things I’ve heard, these are just from this week alone.

It has taken me a little while to figure out why these kinds of things that are said to me feel wrong. They just made me feel awful and none of them were actually rude. I finally realized what it was when someone was talking to me like I was a child, like somehow I was stupid. There are so many people who really think people who don’t fit into what is normal, like introverts, people on the spectrum, or people who are gay, need to conform to what is considered “normal.” Why do people push other people to do things that don’t resonate with them, instead of making the choice to feel comfortable with people being different from them?

It’s gotten to the point where people care more about their own comfort and not having other people push their boundaries to what is considered normal. Being an introvert, on the spectrum, or gay doesn’t ruin anybody’s lives. We just need to take a moment to think and use our brains more often. That’s the whole point of having different ethnicities, religions, backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses, and cultures around you. We need to explore ourselves and find out what we like about other people and what we have in common with them.

It’s something to consider when it comes to what other people say to you, how it makes you feel, and whether you need to do anything about it. You need to evaluate everything that is said to you. It doesn’t necessarily have to be deep evaluation, but you need to have the time and space to explore why something makes you uncomfortable. If it’s not a dire situation, there is time to figure it out. We don’t have to fit into a hetero-normative box to make other people feel comfortable. Just because the people around us do something, doesn’t mean everyone else in the world does it too. It’s okay to be different from the people around you. How boring would it be if everyone was the same?

Don’t let anyone treat you like a child when it’s for a small reason that doesn’t really need to be mentioned in the first place, especially if it has something to do with who you define yourself to be, or your character. There will always be people who are like you too. You get to decide how you want to act. You can choose who gets to be in your life because you have the right not to be belittled or have people talk over you. You shouldn’t have to talk to the people who make you feel bad for being who you are, whether it be your sexuality or your personality. They don’t need an opinion about it.

Everything they say is an opinion, nothing about you not being normal is true. From the cultures to the trends, all of society has been created in one method or another, and things change over time. You don’t need to feel bad about yourself over someone’s opinion because their opinion isn’t truth. It doesn’t apply to anyone but themselves.