Sneetches

I was reading The Sneetches to a girl "S" I babysit and it jolted me back to reality. (Actually, it could have really jolted me into reality for the first time. Who am I to say that I've visited this "Reality" before?) As I was reading, S said, "I would just put a star sticker on my tummy so they would think I was one of them and then they would want to play with me!" I'm sure I thought the same thing when hearing this story as a child but I now realize that I don't want to hang around people that don't acknowledge and embrace my differences. Granted, I'm not spectacularly unique, but I'm also not a cookie cutter 20-something year old girl. I also don't want to spend my time with people who are indifferent to my presence. I do not want to attend anything as a last-minute invitee. One would think that being invited at all is better than not even considered, but it isn't. It really isn't.

With bitterness in my heart and a fresh feeling of rejection, I really identified with the Sneetches with "none upon thars". How unfair that they were left out of the walks along the beach and frankfurter roasts! They were just as good as those Star Belly Sneetches. They were entitled to have just as much fun as them! Then (now here comes the jolt) I realized something. Just because I feel unwanted by the SBS (Star Belly Sneeetches) doesn't mean I have to feel bad about myself. This may seem like common sense, but apparantly it wasn't to me. I don't have to be liked by everyone and not everyone (even if they are related to me) has to like me. This is a difficult realization but it is true nonetheless.

Here is the truth: I am just as good as the Star Belly Sneetches. No better. No worse. They have the right to not like me or want to be around me. I am truly going to try and not be bitter about being left out. It's just the way things are. I may not be invited to walk along the beach with them, but if I walk long enough with a spring in my step maybe someone will join me and appreciate me for who I am. Not for what's on my belly.