We forget
I have recently spent some time with my youngest granddaughter. She is 18 months old. In watching her and playing with her, I started thinking…
It is amazing that many of the things that we knew as children, we must re-learn as adults. One of the things that we were absolutely certain of as small children was who we were. We reveled in our uniqueness. We didn’t have to / want to / need to be exactly like anyone else. Somewhere along the way, we lose track of this concept and spend the rest of our lives chasing after being someone or something else. There’s no need for us to imitate anyone else; they already exist!
We are like Snowflakes
In all of creation, there are no absolutely identical things. If the Creator wanted two identical people, then He would have created a copy of the first. If the there were a need for another person just like your neighbor, then one would have already been created. Just like every snowflake, we are each different. Whatever your personal conception of creation is, you know that it has never been about duplication, copying or cloning. Instead of copying an existing model, the universe calls for a whole new YOU! Why? Because we are needed just the way we are!
I am kind of a people watcher. It is interesting as you walk around or sit at outside cafes to observe close friends together; especially adolescents. They would protest loudly as you try to point out to them that they have very similar haircuts, wearing virtually the same shirt or hat, have a similar way they walk. And, I am not saying that this is all bad. Unfortunately, we fail to investigate the cause of our need to imitate. We tend to imitate people because we thing they are cooler, nicer, more beautiful, more “together” than we are.
Learn and Go
Don’t imitate others. It is great to study others to gain knowledge and expertise from them, but we should not try to be them. We need to be able to study their skills but then implement them in our own lives and move forward on our own road. Because, we are each walking our own road. We cannot follow the footsteps of somebody else, nor can someone else walk our road for us. They have their road, we have ours.
Given the undisputed fact that we are all different, why do we try to be like somebody else? Why do we change our looks or our bodies with plastic surgery? Why not be content with the way we are?
Gifts
And, I’m not just talking about appearance, but also about talents and character. Each person is unique. While we spend our time longing for talents we don’t have, we are neglecting those talents that we do possess. Isn’t this is rather counter-productive? You have been gifted with a unique set of talents. So, why not spend the time, money and energy finding out what they are and develop those.
There is no coincidence. Everything in the universe exists for a reason. You are not talented by accident! Neither is it haphazard that you don’t have some talents you would like to have. If you don’t have a songbird’s voice, you were not meant to sing; and that’s okay. You can do something else with your life according to the talents you do have, and leave the singing to someone who is naturally equipped for that. If you have no acting talents, then logically, you should not act.
Another undisputed fact of life is that everyone is gifted with his or her own unique set of talents. Make no mistake! There are many more talents in the world than singing, acting, dancing, painting, writing or excellence in sports. Your unique talent may be your spontaneity, your enthusiasm, your connection with animals, caring for the disabled, your generosity, being a good teacher or public speaker, being a loving community member, or being a good problem solver. It may be your capacity to love, your natural joy, your brilliance, intelligence, easily assimilating new languages, radiating beauty, having a funny way of expressing yourself, making others laugh, kindness, tenderness, and many more. The list of possible talents is almost endless.
Be you!
What matters in the end is for you to be yourself, right? To be yourself is to find out what your unique talents are. What do I mean by unique? You are thinking, “Well, others are spontaneous too! Plenty of people are generous or friendly.” While all of that is true, your uniqueness lays in the combination of your key talents. Find out what your prominent talents are and how you can put them together. In the synergy and alignment of your key talents lies the beauty of your uniqueness.
It would be a misuse of time trying to be someone else. You are at your best being yourself! The world needs you as you are, exactly as you are! Dare to be yourself. The more you dare to be yourself, the more freedom you will feel. The more freedom you feel, the more you will dare. Being daring and the freedom you gain from it support each other to continue to create our unique selves in an ever expanding celebration of Life. Your life!
Thoughts?
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photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mythoto/3943777830/sizes/z/in/photostream/