Accept YOU for YOU

I am proud.
I'm in a difficult spot, yet my skin doesn't reflect the inner turmoil for a change.
I'm emotionally frustrated. I'm hopeful. I'm angry. I'm determined. And sometimes I'm drained.
I have that compulsive urge to "fix", but it's not directed at my skin; it's directed at my situation.
I'm pushing and fighting for what I need and what I deserve.
Respect me.
I don't care how old I am or what my skin looks like. I don't care if you're sexually frustrated and think I'm the cure for your dry spell. I don't care if you think your faith gives you all the answers and my lack thereof makes me clueless. Talk to me with respect. Make the effort to be good to me, or stop wasting my time. It's really not hard.
There's a lesson here. Stop pushing what you want on other people and accept them for what they are. That includes yourself. Stop hiding behind expectations and social norms. Talk about your squishy, emotional, sappy feelings as a man without shame. Having a penis doesn't make you innately stoic; that's society's doing. Don't let them control you. As a woman, be proud of a healthy body, no matter what number size it may come in or how much shame a magazine tells you ought to go with it. As a picker, flaunt the scars of the past with pride, knowing you may have lost battles, but you're still fighting the war and winning so long as you don't give up.
Accept YOU for who YOU are. And make others do the same if they're going to be in your life.
Of course, how can anyone accept you if you don't let them know who you really are?