"Do not try to be anything but what you are,
and try to be that perfectly." St Francis De Sales
What makes you so darn special and easy to love? Lots of things of course, and one of those reasons is that there's no one like you, never has been and never will be.
We all know that no 2 people have the same fingerprints. But did you know no two people ever born have the same heartbeat? I don't know about you, but I find that amazing! Of all the billions of people who have ever lived, no two have ever had an identical heartbeat. I thought the heart just went boomp-boomp, boomp-boomp. Apparently not. And how about this…the likelihood that you would find someone with your exact DNA is 10 to the 2,400,000,000 power. To print this number it would take a piece of paper 36,000 miles long. Your uniqueness is a scientific fact of life. When God made you he broke the mold. You belong in the spot light!
Sometimes, we can get trapped into judging ourselves by the way we measure up to others, or to the way we used to look and feel in our prime? I know there will always be others that are smarter, richer, thinner, etc than me. So why fret over it? I also have recognized that the older I get the less I like full length mirrors, and that guy in the mirror really isn't my dad. Accepting ourselves exactly as we are, with our successes, failures, and changes, and with no regrets or apologies is not a bad way to go through life. If others can't accept you the way you are that's their problem. So hallelujah, celebrate your uniqueness!
And everyone else is equally as unique. So why do we expect others, (often those closest to us) to live their lives in a certain way? Because that's how we would live their life? In our compassion and eagerness to help an aging and indecisive loved one, or a troubled child, how can we be so certain what they should do next when we really don't know what is in their heart and soul, or what it is to truly like to walk in their shoes?
I hate to admit it, but maybe my kids had some insight when they were being disciplined while growing up. I wanted to explode every time I heard the words "Dad, you don't understand." I used to reply sarcastically, "Of course I don't understand, because I was never a child. I was born and then poof! Instantly I went from birth to being a dad." I thought I understood them perfectly and what they should do, but maybe we were both a little right and a little wrong. Sometimes, maybe just being there for others, listening and accepting without judging and telling them what to do is an option. That becomes increasingly difficult the closer that person is to us.
The fact that we are all different makes life soooooo rich. Just think of how boring life would be if everyone was similar. Today, celebrate uniqueness…yours and everyone else's by going out and being the one and only you!