One for the Ugly Duckling

This post is for all of you out there who have self esteem issues, the dumb, ugly, or maybe just chronically nervous people in this school.
I was bullied a lot, I grew up never thinking I was good enough for anything. I could never work up the courage to talk to a girl, I never let myself have many friends, I put on a fake face whenever I leave my home. When I look into the mirror I feel shame, and sadness. I used to contemplate suicide, or running away from my problems anything to not have to face the world I knew. I wanted to be someone else, someone new, someone that wasn't in any way, shape, or form like me...
Does this sound familiar? You know it does, everyone on earth has felt at least one of these things. I felt like that until I got my first girlfriend, then everything was so amazing, birds sounded sweeter, air breathed better, I even stopped feeling ashamed of myself. Then some hurtful events came into play (let's keep them nameless, shall we?) and everything was so, so, SOOOO much worse.
I blamed myself for everything, for her leaving me, for her cheating on me (oops, that's not really nameless is it?) everything. I treated her like a queen, so to keep with the role playing, I was the court jester.
My life sucked for so long, it was terrible. I put on a happy face so no one would know how hurt I was, I never wanted anyone to know. I was just about ready to leave everything behind, either start a new life somewhere, or commit suicide. Then I read this quote.
"If you wish to make a monster, then take all of your imperfections, your hates, your prejudices, and imagine they are across the room. It is too ugly to be human, it is too ugly to be you. Children fear the dark because they cannot make their own monsters, adults fear themselves."
WE ARE NOT THE SUM OF OUR IMPERFECTIONS!! WE ARE NOT THE SUM OF OUR PERFECTIONS!! We are who we choose to be. Your imperfections are merely disguised perfections. Viewed from another angle we can see ourselves the way we were meant to... as ourselves.
So it doesn't matter if you are stupid, or smart, ugly, or beautiful, fat, or thin. the important thing is that you are you.
-Good luck
With love,
Charliey.