"Don't be afraid to be you" a man once said this to me.

Ever since I was a kid, I knew I was different. As I continue to grow I realized that if you're different, you'll be judged. 

I was scared to open up, living in a religious house hiding a secret that no one knows. Everytime my friends see a different one they make fun oh him/her, I felt guilty and scared. I keep wanting to open up, Finding someone to talk to. I almost suffered from depression. And at the moment I turned at my current age...

I opened up to my parents saying..."Mom, Dad... I think I'm different". They looked at me with a disappointed and disgusted look in their face. I was sad that they can't accept me for what I am, I ran away from home. 

As I was crying in front of a store, a man came up to me and gave me tissue saying..."are you okay?"  I replied "no, I'm not" while bursting onto tears. I asked him "is being different a bad thing?". He replied "No, it's not". I accidentally shouted to him "then why do they hate me?!...sorry". He replied "It's not your fault to be different. Even if they hate you, you still have someone who will love you and accept you. Why bother dealing with the people who hates you? There's alot of people loving you and I'm one of them. Soon they'll realize that you didn't do anything wrong, that being different is fine. Just don't let the people who hate you to look down on you. Don't afraid on being yourself. You're fine as everyone else." He smiled. I had the urge to hug him, so I did. I continued living my life until my parents came to accept me and I was happy.

I just wanted to share my story and inspire those who are scared to be different. Have a nice day!