“Swimming Upstream: A Story for the Ones Who Don’t Belong”

“You’re too soft for this world.”

That’s what they told him. Over and over again.

Not in those exact words, but in the way they raised their eyebrows when he cried.

In the way they laughed when he stayed quiet in noisy rooms.

In the way they called him “too sensitive,” “too weird,” or “too nice.”

This world, they said, was built for sharks — people who bite before they’re bitten, people who step on others to climb higher.

But he wasn’t a shark.

He was just… trying to swim.

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Meet Saad.

He was the kid who’d lend you his notes even if you ignored him all semester.

The guy who apologized when someone bumped into him.

The one who didn’t know how to flirt, lie, cheat, or fake a personality to fit in.

He believed in kindness.

In real things.

In slow growth and good people.

And for that, the world chewed him up.

---

At 19, he started university, thinking it would finally be different.

He thought “people grow up, right?”

“They won’t care about followers or designer shoes or perfect English anymore.”

He was wrong.

Instead of bullies on the playground, he met influencers in classrooms.

People who flexed brands, numbers, and arrogance like a second skin.

Professors who praised only the loudest voices.

Friends who were “friends” until someone more popular walked in.

And then came the pressure.

To change his accent.

To dress differently.

To fake confidence.

To pretend like he had it all figured out.

---

He tried.

He bought clothes he couldn’t afford.

He mimicked the way others spoke.

He even downloaded dating apps just to “fit in.”

But every time he looked in the mirror, he felt like a stranger was staring back.

Because trying to be something you're not is the fastest way to lose who you are.

---

One night, after another party where no one noticed he left early, he sat by his window and cried.

Not because he was weak.

But because he was exhausted from pretending.

He whispered to himself:

> “What’s the point of being in this world if I have to kill myself to belong to it?”

---

That’s when something shifted.

Not outside him — the world was still cold, loud, and fake.

But inside him… a voice rose up — quiet but certain:

> “You weren’t made to fit in. You were made to stand out.”

---

The next day, he deleted every app that made him feel like a failure.

He sold the branded clothes he bought to impress others.

He stopped chasing people who made him feel invisible.

And for the first time in a long time — he wrote.

Not captions.

Not fake bios.

But real things.

Thoughts.

Pain.

Hope.

He started a blog.

And guess what?

No one read it at first.

But that didn’t stop him.

Because it wasn’t about going viral.

It was about becoming visible to himself.

---

Weeks turned into months.

He wrote about mental health.

About loneliness.

About the struggle to remain kind in a cruel world.

And slowly… strangers started commenting.

“Thank you.”

“I feel this.”

“I thought I was the only one.”

He wasn’t alone anymore.

---

Today, Saad runs a blog read by thousands across the world.

He’s not famous.

He’s not rich.

But he’s real.

And that, in this fishy world, is a revolution.

---

🌊 So What’s the Point of This Story?

The point is you don’t have to become a shark to survive the ocean.

You can be a different kind of fish.

One who swims deep.

One who doesn’t chase waves — but creates their own current.

---

💥 Real Talk to Every Young Person Reading This:

You don’t need 100K followers to be worth something.

You don’t need to be the loudest in the room to be heard.

You don’t need to fake confidence to earn respect.

You don’t need to belong everywhere — just in your own skin.

---

This world will constantly tell you who to be.

It will sell you masks.

It will shame your silence.

It will glorify shallow things and ignore deep wounds.

But remember this:

> Your softness is not your weakness.

Your difference is not your defect.

Your truth is not your burden — it’s your superpower.

---

Some people will call you unrealistic.

Some will laugh at your dreams.

Some will ghost you, use you, mock you.

Let them.

They’re not your people.

Your people will recognize your soul even when your words tremble.

---

So keep swimming.

Even if the water is rough.

Even if you’re swimming alone.

Because you weren’t born to sink.

You were born to rise.

---



You’re not behind.

You’re not broken.

You’re not weird.

You’re just building something real in a world full of fake.

And that?

That takes guts.