Why is it that us human beings we often want to change things about ourselves? Our true self. Our identity, what makes us. What constitutes us. What gives us our uniqueness. What makes us unique.
What good is it to have clones of one person when you can have many people who are unique in their own way? One of the good things about life is that our differences actually add flavour to life. What good is it having many people who all have one personality, who all react the same way. We would be so bored. Despite the fact that contrary opinions may not always be welcome, the very ability of one person to reason in one way and another to reason in a completely different way makes life interesting.
Differences in looks, in speech i.e., language, weather, in skin colour, geographical location, in food, in culture is not bad, in fact it is good. You get to hear an opinion that is contrary to yours and it is not to attack you or to make you doubt your experience or undermine your experiences. We are all different and that’s okay. The problem arises when one person wants to standardize their experience as a sort of measure. Instead of sharing their experience and if there is something helpful and that can be beneficial to others then the other parties can voluntarily adopt it. Not forcing one’s culture down other’s throats, like what happened to many countries across the globe, in the form of colonialism.
We gain more from each other when we collaborate, when we partner than when we compete, fight, undermine each other etc. As was the case during the World Wars, when countries were at war with each other. Later on, they realized that they could benefit more from trading with each other than warring with each other.
Do not shrink yourself for anyone. Your smile, your way of doing things, your personality, your skin colour, your experiences are valuable to society. You just need to know how to present them. This calls for you to know yourself; to be self-aware and to embark on self-mastery in order to articulate the value that you bring to society. Every single person is unique, and that your uniqueness is valuable, just know how to present it as valuable.
What makes people shrink their true selves in certain environments, is usually because they don’t feel appreciated in those environments. But with self-value, you don’t wait until you feel appreciated, you assert your value. But for you to assert your value, you need to first know yourself; self-awareness and be on a journey of self-mastery. You don’t necessarily know everything about you all at once, some experiences come to reveal certain parts of you that you didn’t realize were there. Therefore, life is a journey, a journey of self-mastery. And to know your uniqueness, you need to be on this journey and be intentional about it.
Your empowering message resonates deeply, reminding individuals of the inherent value they possess and the importance of embracing their true selves unapologetically. By urging people not to shrink themselves for anyone, you advocate for self-acceptance and authenticity, affirming that each person’s smile, personality, and experiences are valuable contributions to society.
Absolutely, Carson and thank you.
I think the more we grow the more we realize that
Indeed.
being different is okay.
Definitely.