@lba- I sometimes think about getting a tattoo, but then I think how I'm probably one of the few people within 15 years of my age that hasn't got one.
That used to be my reason for not getting one, that I was one of the few people in my field that didn't have tattoos but after a while I realized that people don't have to know that you have one. I realized I was just using it as an excuse to pretend that there was some evidence for why I act and live differently than the people I work and live with. Hence why I got this particular tattoo on my shoulder, where nobody can see it. It's there for my reasons and nobody else. It's not important that others see it and I choose to live like it's not even there. I got it to remind myself of just how far I've come from where I grew up, not to show other people my past. That's what I meant about it being no big deal. I didn't quite fully realize it until after I got it, but they really don't define you in any way whatsoever. It's just a bunch of ink. It was quite the eye-opening experience for me.
I'll say the cliched line and point out that it's not for everyone, but I just realized after a while that all my reasons for doing it were more out of fear, anger and some weird belief that I had to be some special little flower and stay different in every way from everyone else. At some point I realized I was justifying things and really didn't have a reason not to, so I went ahead and did it.