Everyone is Unique

We live in a world where we are expected to follow the crowd and be like the vast majority. But what if we look at the world differently? What if we have a different set of ideas? What if we have the talent that is good enough to break mountains, but it is not part of what society expects?



Embrace Your Uniqueness!

Our world consists of seven continents and there are so many people in this world. Most of us live our lives following the pattern set for us by society.  A few years after we are born, we are put into a school. We grow up along with the other kids.  We learn so many subjects: Maths, Geography, History, Civics, Languages, Science, etc.  We have a huge syllabus given to us and are expected to clear our exam with flying colors.  After school is done, college starts. And then we get into a job. Once we get a job, we are considered to be professionally successful. And then the other parameters to success come in; like getting married, buying a house, going abroad, getting a car, etc. Come to think about it, everyone lives a similar life; one that has been outlined for us by a non-tangible, invisible entity called society.

In spite of the basic pattern of life that society has set for each person born, if we carefully observe we can see that no two people are the same. Everyone is unique. Each one of us has a special set of talents that we bring into this world as our own. But what society has done to us is that it has made us forget our authenticity. It tries to make us believe that the qualities we bring in are not enough; and that we should be like the ‘others’. 

If we look at the advertising industry today, we can see how many companies make us believe we are not pretty enough, or smart enough or talkative enough or don’t have the best painted wall. And we buy their products to make ourselves fit into the category they have set for us. Some of the false ideas fed to us are:

You should look young forever else your relationships are affected.

External beauty is all there is to life.

To be successful, you should be an extrovert.

You should own the perfect car and house else you are unsuccessful.

We have to be aware of what is being fed into our minds when we come across such ideas. Beauty isn’t external. People who are shy and reserved are also beautiful and have a lot to offer to the world. The perfect house and car are nice, but they don’t define everything there is to life.

I recently read an article which had a beautiful example.  A squirrel, a fish and a dog were asked to compete in a game. The game was that they had to climb a tall tree and reach the top of the tree. Whoever reached the top first won the prize and would be awarded a trophy. In reality, this game didn’t make any sense considering who was competing. A squirrel can climb a tree, but what about the dog and the fish? They have other talents. The dog can be judged for how fast he runs and gets the ball, and the fish for how well it moves in water. This is what happens to many people in the world today.

When we face such a situation, we need to remind ourselves that we are unique. Each of us has our gifts.  Some of us are great photographers and we can contribute by capturing wonderful moments of life. Some of us are great with kids, and we might be good as teachers or counselors. Some of us cook really well and it might be great if we start a food stall somewhere or write a Food Blog and teach others about our recipes and their benefits. There are so many things we can offer to the world if we just remember to remove the veil that society has put on us about how we should be. We can offer so many of our unique gifts to the world daily. We can make this a better place in our own little way. It needn’t be anything big or enormous. In fact, the tiniest and simplest things we do make the biggest difference.

The world would benefit greatly if we just accept ourselves completely and love ourselves unconditionally; if we don’t try to fit into other people’s ideas of “successful”; if we understand that we have our strengths and weaknesses and that is OK. That is all part of being authentically us and that is beautiful! 

Starting today, let’s be better to ourselves. Let us enjoy being the real us. And let us slowly change what this society has done to the world.

Be Real! Be You! J