Crushed Because I'm Not Popular

Dear Dee:
I'm a 14-year-old boy and a freshman in high school. I am not popular and it's killing me.

I can't impress any of the popular girls, I can't even look at the girl I like without getting a sign of her not noticing me. I can't say anything around the popular guys without getting made fun of, and I can't be accepted by the cool crowd.

You need to stop trying so hard and just be yourself. You need to take pride in who you are and build up your self-confidence. You need to work on being OK with you.

Don't measure your worth on who notices you and who doesn't and also remember your self confidence or lack thereof plays into how people respond to you. Others gravitate towards those who carry themselves with poise and confidence. And those who seem to be trying too hard to fit in do nothing but get on people's nerves and get ignored.

So, work on your self-worth. Really spend some time figuring out what makes you, you and why you are worth knowing. I am sure the list is a mile long. And with that list, build some confidence in yourself. That confidence might not win you a spot in the popular crowd, but it WILL show you that you don't have to be one of them to be worth knowing and caring about.