What matters? I find myself asking this question a lot in today's cookie cutter, “one size fit's all” world. We live in a world where, due to the fear of people being treated “unequally” we're all expected to learn the same, test the same, react the same, think the same, and be the same.

In today's education system this is especially true. Over the years education has been “standardized”. Teachers today forget that we're NOT all the same. We all have different learning styles, capabilities, and attributes. Albert Einstein once said “Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree is will live it's whole life believing it's stupid.” How many children and teens go through their lives believing that they're inadequate, simply because our educational system has failed to recognize our individual learning styles? How many times has that feeling of not being good enough spilled out into other areas of their lives leading to stress, depression, suicide, and possibly death?

Being a suicide survivor I myself have experienced these things first hand. Events in my life lead me down a journey of self discovery, and I've found answers to questions that I wasn't even aware I was asking. So what's the answer? What matters in today's society? The answer is quite simple, yet very complex. Individuality. We've had the answer all along, but had no idea how to embrace it. Our individuality isn't meant to be something that drives us crazy, or makes us feel inadequate, it's meant to make us feel special. In a world where you can be anything you want, the best thing you can be is yourself. We as a whole need to learn to celebrate individuality, embrace it, embark on it, and learn from it. Stepping back from society, and finding out who you REALLY are is the best thing you can do for yourself.