Maybe it all started with the phrase, "you should be better, " or " why can't you be like them." Maybe it all started in primary school, where nobody cared about you, but the progress was everything. Maybe It all started when you began copying other people's actions to satisfy those you love. Why? Because deep down, you knew, they only liked you when you were like others, but if not, they left you alone like an old toy, forgotten in the dark corner of the room. Unwanted. Unseen. Unplayed. After some time, you were told that you should work harder. So you did. You gave everything you had to try your best, but every time you failed, everyone was disappointed but if you succeeded, no one ever noticed, no one had ever been proud of you. They saw you as an object, not a person, and they treated you like one too. You learned to keep every single emotion inside you, but still, it wasn't enough. That was the moment when everything started to fall apart. You started to believe that if you were like them, they would like you. You began to hate yourself every time you failed. You were scared of making mistakes, terrified that one wrong step would prove them right - that you are not like them. Even in your eyes, you started to compare yourself to others. You hated it, but still, you kept doing it. The only thing you wished for was to be like them. That wish grew and grew to the point that it began to eat you from the inside. You came close to making a crazy, stupid decision that wouldn't be good and wouldn't solve anything. Luckily, you woke up at the right time and you realized that you could be just you. The weight on your chest began to lighten. You were finally free to be you, not anyone's shadow.