Lessons Learned From Being An Outcast

I never thought I would post this photo, but here it is. That's right, that's me you're looking at. How do I know? Because I definitely **stand out**. Still not sure we're talking about the same person? Alright, then. I am the boy on the left, wearing a spiky choker, a punky leather vest, checkered...

I never thought I would post this photo, but here it is. That's right, that's me you're looking at. How do I know? Because I definitely **stand out**. Still not sure we're talking about the same person? Alright, then. I am the boy on the left, wearing a spiky choker, a punky leather vest, checkered trousers and army boots covered in chains. And a Mohawk, if you haven't noticed before. So, why am I posting it today? Believe it or not, but I'm actually doing that to pay tribute to my childhood and share the lessons I learnt being the black sheep of the family. I come from a traditional family, with a strict father as the head of the family, a caring mother who showered us with love and attention and two brothers and a baby sister. My parents have never crossed any personal boundaries or disrespected me in any way, but they have never tried to develop trust between us. They just thought that I being the firstborn child would obey their rules and live up to their expectations. Please don't get me wrong, I don't blame them for that, I just think they didn't really know what to do with me, my brothers and sister's upbringing was quite different from mine. I've been recently consulting a family therapist about another issue and what I've learnt about myself is that being an **outcast** taught me some really important lessons. First of all, as I didn't feel I belong to my family, I learnt how to be sociable and make new friends easily. Secondly, I built up my confidence as I was constantly experimenting with my style and learnt **to stand up for myself** no matter what I wore or did. And the last, but not the least, I learnt **to think outside the box** by always trying to do the opposite from what my family did. So today I want to say that I **appreciate** my **background** and the kind of person I have become. I hope I will be the person my children will **look up to** and be proud of. Let me know in the comment section below if you have ever experienced being the black sheep of the family.