Have you ever been working on a puzzle when you come across a piece that you just can't make fit? You turn it, twist it and push it, but it still won't go?
Sometimes that happens in life.Some people want to fit in to one certain place so badly that they will do almost anything to make it work. They twist, they turn and sometimes even push their way through to fit.
But in the end it just doesn't feel right - like a puzzle piece squeezed into a place it wasn't suppose to fit. That's because the person changed themselves to fit in, and perhaps they were also trying to squeeze into the wrong place.
Being Yourself
There are two common techniques many teens try in order to fit into the “it” crowd. The first is the Freak-out Technique in which one wears an invisible mask, covering up who he or she really is and pretending to be someone entirely different.
The other is the Geek-out Technique. This technique involves doing things one really doesn’t want to do in an effort to win the admiration of others. Some teens turn to drugs, alcohol, smoking and even sex to gain approval from a group.
While both techniques have proven to have occasional short-term success, neither is foolproof and both have a strong tendency to backfire. You see, when you resort to these techniques, you have abandoned your own beliefs and not being true to yourself.
People wearing masks and trying to be someone they are not live with a constant fear that one day people will discover who they really are and that the end result will be (gasp!) rejection. Kids who do things they know aren’t right tend to feel guilty and face all kinds of consequences because of their actions.
The best way to fit in is to be yourself. Period! People who accept you this way are the only ones you should want to be around.
What Will Everyone Say?
Maybe you want to fit in to a certain group, and you’re absolutely convinced they won’t accept you or, worse, will make fun of you if you just act yourself. Yes, words can hurt. We won’t argue with that. But the sting of the words won’t linger nearly as long as the effect of drugs, alcohol or premarital sex! That’s a solemn promise.
People only have the power over your life when you give it them. Joseph, the bodyguard in The Princess Diaries told Princess Mia, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Because of this, people have no way of hurting you… unless you let them.
Finding Your Place
So how do you make yourself fit perfectly into a group like the right puzzle piece? Start by taking a good look at the places in which you’re trying to fit. If you’ve never felt like you fit in maybe it’s because you’ve been looking in the wrong places. Or maybe you fit in now, but you’re fitting in with the wrong crowd, and the picture just doesn’t look right.
If you are hanging out with people who don’t accept you for who you are, or people who talk you into doing things you know are wrong, it’s safe to say there is a better group calling your name. Sometimes, a puzzle piece will fit into more than one place in a puzzle. But if it doesn’t look right, it’s not.
Finding A New Place
It’s not easy to stop hanging out with a certain group, and maybe you won’t have to. You can test your friends by being yourself, and see how they treat you. If your friends start to treat you differently, then you know they weren’t true friends in the first place. A true friend will always want what is best for you – don’t forget it!
If you find out your friends are not true-blue friends, you don’t have to act like you are rejecting them. It’s important that you are still friendly to them, but start spending your time with people who won’t bring you down – people who will accept you for who you are without trying to change you.
Taking Off The Mask
When you have friends who will always accept you, then you don’t ever have to feel like you need to wear a mask. God’s son Jesus is that type of friend.
He will accept you no matter what. In fact, because He is God’s son, He has the power to know everything you have ever done… or even thought! And He still wants to be your friend.
It doesn’t matter what you have done, what you are struggling with or what family you come from. It doesn’t matter if you feel different from every other person around you. You are good enough to have a relationship with God and His son Jesus. All you have to do is want to have that relationship.
