Tough Skin

'Odds' Among The 'Even' by DBalWrites

'Odds' among the 'Even'

Starting at very young age, I never had friends and for some reason I never stopped to consider why. My family moved around a lot, and it was same story at every single school I attended.

It never once occurred to me that there was something wrong with me. I didn't think it was because I weighed much more than the other kids or because I never really made an attempt to reach out. I was fine being on my own, in my own world with my dolls and my imaginary friends.

When I was in primary 3 (third grade) a girl tried to become my 'friend' and every time during recess, she would take my skipping rope and go someplace else. After a while though, I never saw her or my skipping rope again.

After my family and I moved to a different continent, there a major change in my life. I was introduced to a new culture and entire different set of people. Although I was a bit older, I still had the problem of making friends in my home country, so I couldn't even begin to comprehend how much of a challenge it would be in a foreign country.

And it was at first. It didn't help that I had an accent too, that people always considered 'funny'. Again, I was the outcast but people did try to make an effort to reach out to me, so I guess it was my fault this time I was so used to people ignoring me that it was harder to open up.

Gradually, however it got easier and I started to allow people in. There was always this hesitancy though, this apprehension. I was skeptical about everything and everyone around me. I felt they were nice because they just wanted to be nice or that they just wanted something from me, like the girl who took my skipping rope.

Now, I started to feel that maybe I was the problem.

That was until one day, I met someone who looked so out of place just like me. It felt almost like a natural tug to be drawn to her. While I was big, round and short, she was tall, almost a foot taller than me, with legs longer than her body and she had a really slim build.

Though we looked absolutely nothing alike we had one thing in common–––we were both "odd" as people liked to call us. But it didn't matter, we became instant friends.

Yes, people talked about us all the time. They would gossip and call me the fat one and her the thin one. And I think the fact that we never said anything to their faces, aggravated them even further, and they would continue to say more hurtful things.

It didn't mean that we didn't feel the pain from their taunts. On the contrary, as we grew older, we got more insecure about our flaws which was natural of course, but their non-stop torment didn't help either.

It took a long while, and I feel it's still on ongoing process, but we're both starting to love and accept ourselves and becoming comfortable in our own bodies. The great thing about having a friend like her is that she's there to pick me up when I feel down, and I do the same for her.

It's one day at a time. Learning to love and appreciate our imperfections and realizing that it's what makes us who we are, is truly the biggest accomplishment we could achieve for ourselves.

My friend and I had to learn to develop 'tough skin'. And though it's not easy I think it's important because no matter how 'perfect' you try to become, people will always have something nasty to say.

So the best thing you can do for yourself is to put on your shades and block out the haters!