"You sound like an adult! What's wrong with you?" How many times have I heard this or something similar fall from the lips of my so-called peers? How many times do I have to stand there, speechless, because the only response I have is playback of a lifetime's worth of experiences. Experiences that many my age haven't had to encounter. Is it really so wrong for me to be affected by years of my ONLY companionship being people 2, 3, 4 times my age?

I don't think so.

I was home schooled practically my whole life up until just last year when I was encouraged to become influenced by those of an age range closer to mine. I was encourage to act out in ways deemed "appropriate" for someone within the same quantitative age range I fall into. Never mind the fact that,as stated above, I had had NO experience with these people previously, I've been able to carve out a niche for myself among a few of my "peers". These people have become very very close to me but even within this circle of friends there are those that accuse me of being "too mature", "too polite", or in general, just different from anyone else. Should I try and change the self that my collected experiences have created?

I don't think so.

However, I am allowed to (by my own standards of personal ethics) express my current mood or thought in any way I deem appropriate. If that happens to entail me acting more like a fifteen year old, then so be it! There isn't a thing wrong with me acting that age for myself and my own personal enjoyment. But why is it that when I DO act my age, I'm almost immediately shut down by one of the very people who encouraged me to embrace my age in the first place? Just because I am expressing myself differently DOES NOT mean that my emotional/cognitive ranges have diminished! I still love and I still care and I still look after my family, I have just learned to look after myself as well. Is it wrong for me to finally believe in myself, for myself, and express myself as an individual with limited years but an unlimited imagination?

I don't think so.