Growing up, I could never lay claim to being a part of the popular crowd. Even if I hadn't been extraordinarily shy, I still don't think I would have been accepted into the group of cheerleaders or jocks or prepy kids or whoever it was that was popular. Maybe I wasn't pretty enough, trendy enough, cool enough, or rich enough to be included. But I blame my exclusion mostly on the fact that my family was pretty weird, and at least some of the weirdness was bound to rub off on me.
I may have not liked being unpopular back in the day, but these days I don't hold any bitterness about it. That's because I have realized an important fact - popularity is an illusion. EVERYONE is different or 'weird' to some extent. The popular kids only cover it up better. But have you ever tried to keep a secret for a very long time? You may have tried, but it almost always comes out sooner or later. Popularity is the same way. You are only popular as long as you can cover up your secret weirdness.
So these days, I prefer genuine friends - the people who know all your secrets and still love and accept you. Life is too short to fake who you really are just so other people will like you. Besides, all those 'other people' are as imperfect as you, so who are they to judge what is 'popular'?
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