Mr Player, Mr Popular and I

A/N Here's to being true to yourself... ✌️

Hey there guys,

I'd like to address a few things, so please bear with me.

Firstly, name isn't really 'Maria'. My real name is Anudi, pronounced anna-dee. It's Sri Lankan cause well, I'm Sri Lankan, even if I do call Australia 'home', considering I grew up here since I was a tiny little toddler! 👶

As a young girl growing up in another country, you have no idea how annoying it is at the start of every year, when your new teachers are going through the roll and the second they pause in the middle of the roll and hesitate, you know it's your name so you say it before they even attempt to pronounce it. Or even worse, they try to pronounce it before I can say it myself! 😳 

So over the course of my early to mid teen life, I've really despised my name. I was lucky enough that the people in my life were sweet and never teased me about it or anything when I was younger, but it was still quite annoying. So obviously, when I had the choice of not being 'Anadi' when I created an account on Wattpad seemed like the perfect idea. 

But over the last year, I've come to accept my name. I was named Anadi and I can't do much about it, so I might as well embrace it, you know? So I think for me, to be able to say that my real name is Anadi on here, is a big step for me. So from now on, I'll be signing off as Anadi.

So secondly, I don't know for how many people this will apply to, but for those of you who it does, if you're name is like my name, you know, not exactly the most common and hard to pronounce names, I hope that you embrace your name. Don't feel like you don't fit in or anything because your name is different. 

Or if you're culture or religion is different to what you are growing up in (eg. growing up in another country), embrace it. For me, even though I've grown up in Australia for the majority of my life, my parents have raised me up with the same culture and religion that they grew up as to in Sri Lanka some extent. I'm Buddhist and Sinhalese. 

When I was younger, I despised how my parents wanted to make sure I grew up in the same kind of culture that they did, because it's so different to what the culture I'm surrounded by here in Australia. But over the years, we've found a balance between their culture and the culture here that I'm surrounded by. 

Heck, I'm actually glad at times that my parents made sure that I followed their culture to some extent, you know? We've found our boundaries now; they know when they have to let me live a little and do my own thing, and I know when I have to tone it down. 

I absolutely love my parents, and am thankful for the way they have brought me up. To be able to be proud of who I am. To embrace my mix of two cultures and my religion. I hope you guys can do the same too. Be proud of who you are.

Thirdly, it's been nearly five years since I first started writing. I first discovered I liked to write when I got hooked on One Direction fan fictions on another website. I read so many and I got inspired to write my own; that was my very first story I publicly posted for people to read, a Niall Horan fan fiction 😂. Looking back on it now, it was really fast paced, a little cliche and repetitive, but I'm still proud that I actually wrote something like that when I was thirteen. Later, I started writing non fan fiction, my first being 'Mr Player, Mr Popular and I'.

But writing wasn't something I told people about. I never told anyone about it other than my best friend. In fact, I was almost embarrassed about it. I guess that's how things were back for me as a fourteen year old girl trying to fit in with everyone else. I used to think fitting in with everyone else and having a lot of friends was what mattered the most (other than having good grades ahaha). But as I've matured over the years, my love for writing increased. 

For me, writing is when I can forget about everything else going on in my life. It's like my escape. I enjoy reading too, but not as much as writing (I just don't have enough time to write as much as I wish I did!). I'm proud that I write on here, and that I enjoy it.So honestly, I don't care what people say about me writing; it's something that I enjoy and quite frankly, what other people think about that doesn't matter anymore.

And for those of you who feel the same way about one of your hobbies, don't let what other people might think of you get in the way of doing what you love. Making other people happy won't make you happy. Do what makes you happy, and if people can't accept it, then that's their problem and you shouldn't be around those type of people. Which brings me to my last point of this tremendously long authors note.

As the years have passed, I've gone through a bit in my high school life. Last year, was most definitely my worst ever year at school. I didn't do too well in school. I did things I probably shouldn't have done. And I lost friends. Although 2016 may have been my crappiest year ever, I'm glad that it went the way it did.

I thought that the people I surrounded myself with were good friends. But as the year went on last year, I realised that I was wrong. I realised who exactly were my real friends and who weren't through the course of the year. I distanced myself from those who weren't ideal friends for me and I'm glad I did. I have closer friendships with those I can actually count on and vice versa. I feel at ease with them and not have to keep up a silly facade with them and I've never had so much funnier and interesting lunch times ever, hanging out with my friends is the high light of my school days now. Don't get me wrong though, I still hang out with my old friends every now and then and we still talk, but I feel as if it's in the right amount...

Can I just say, the type of people you associate yourself with does in fact influence you. Once I distanced myself from certain people, I was a much happier person and I was more... positive, you know? I'm not going to lie, I thought that some of those people I called 'good friends', I'd be friends with for life. Ahaha I was so wrong. (if you've read up to here in this author's note, comment something about Shawn Mendes so I know ahaha) I cannot wait to finish high school and leave behind a lot of people because I've realised I don't need those people. In all honesty, they're quite irrelevant to be honest 😂. Going into my last year of high school as a seventeen year old girl still trying to figure out life, I'm glad that I've realised what makes me happy and what doesn't, and the fact that I've taken steps to make it better. 

If you're not happy, take a look at the people you're surrounding yourself with. They might've been the right friends for you a few years ago, but everyone changes over time. And things might not be the same anymore. So take the step to make yourself happier. 

So that's all I wanted to say. I'm sorry that I blabbed on so much, but for those of you who did read it, thank you. I appreciate you so much, even if I've never met you before!

Until next time, 

Anadi ☺️