When I was a teenager I always pretended that I didn't care who liked me or what anyone thought about me. I had a shell around me to protect me from getting hurt. Day after day, in different situations, I hear people say they don't care what anyone thinks about them. The thing is, everyone cares. Everyone wants someone to approve of them. Everyone has a deep need to be accepted by someone whether they will acknowledge it or not. Humans have an intrinsic need to connect with other people and usually people flock to people like themselves. Like attracts like. But, how much more interesting could your life be if you widened your acceptance of others? How much less stress would there be in your life if you resolved to love yourself and accept yourself and let others have the opportunity to do the same? It is really difficult, sometimes, to really love and truly accept who you are and embrace that about yourself, but if you don't how are others supposed to? It feels safer and less vulnerable to put a shell around ourselves and gripe how know one knows us and others are judging us without knowing us, but ultimately it's up to us to make ourselves a little more vulnerable so that others feel as though they can approach us. I understand a lot of these things are easier said than done, but if we have some courage and love ourselves and accept ourselves, we will feel more open to more relationships and others will see that. I definately want people to like me and be my friend but the best I can do is work on me, keep myself open to other people and treat others like I would want people to treat me. I want you to like me and be my friend not because I need it, but because I desire it and I desire to pour into you anything I can to make your life easier and better.