You can’t hide when you are born to stand out.

I think that this statement really holds true because it’s not something that you always take a moment to reflect on. We often forget, amid running around trying to please people, that our differences are what give us our humanity, trying to be something that you aren’t isn’t going to help. We all go though the phase in life where the only thing that matters to us is trying to be ‘perfect’ and ‘fit in’ but in, we never understood that those two things only existed in our imagination.

My personal battle with this is a perfect example of this. I always thought that I would be treated different for working in a different way to other people or not doing anything that was deemed ‘cool’ to the others. It became a constant source of worry and that’s when I started doing things that were purely based on what I had observed about the people around me and the environment that I was exposed to. I essentially became a clone to what others wanted me to be. I started to change the way in which people saw me on the outside but didn’t realize that it was what was on the inside that really counted. At the time, it never hit me, but the realization always stares back at me. Sometimes I wish I had known sooner.

What was the lesson I learned from this experience? And I guarantee you, it is a valuable experience. You shouldn’t allow a set model or ideology be a mould for how you should conduct yourself. If you think about it logically, it makes sense. What world without difference breed opportunity to explore beyond what you are told you can do? We will all be stuck only doing what we are told we can do. We become a target for ‘do’s and don’ts’ that are the same for everyone.

At the end of it all, this is my message. Be yourself and don’t let the ideals placed on you by the society you live in because not everything they say can catch your interest. They might want you to go into a place where many have gone, only to realise that it isn’t giving you the satisfaction that you initially thought.

Moral of the story is you are you and unique, love yourself.