I’m kicking off the first 100 days of 2019 with a devotional a friend gave me for Christmas, 100 Days to Brave: Devotions for Unlocking Your Most Courageous Self by Annie F. Downs. I’m loving it so far and highly recommend checking it out, but mention it because today’s topic of uniqueness is what inspired this post.
The author addresses how God made each of us with intention; it is no accident that no two of us are the same.
It’s been said that comparison is the thief of all joy, and I believe this to be true. In the social media age that we live in, comparison seems down right impossible, so it helps to consciously remind yourself of the context. Catch yourself in the thought “this person is perfect” and ask yourself some questions: are they famous? if so, they likely have a stylist, hair & makeup team, etc. so of course every single post is going to have great lighting and show them looking their best. Think about the number of pictures you’ve taken of your food before you got the one you posted… that food blogger probably did the same thing.
You are you, and you are not a mistake. You have the training and skills that you have because they are specific to your personal path.
Sometimes our talents or their uses are difficult to see so we’ve got to help each other.
I have a friend who makes her own planner stickers. I buy mine off of Etsy, so when she told me how much time she spent designing her stickers, I suggested she start her own Etsy shop. There are tons of sticker shops on there; I saw no reason why she couldn’t own one, too, but she immediately gave me a list of excuses as to why she could not start a shop, going on an on about how many people were already doing it, how much work it would be, etc. I asked her how much of it she would really consider “work.” When she first spoke to me about designing the stickers, she spoke with such passion. She loves it. I, on the other hand, thought it sounded like a large amount of work that was dull and mundane, which is why I prefer to purchase my stickers, but she loves designing. She has softened to the idea since our initial conversation, and now I check in on her every so often to make sure she is working on it (and she is).
I have a co-worker who does wedding planning on the side, and she doesn’t have a website. She said she doesn’t have the time to create one or to handle the influx of customers it would bring. She can’t be a wedding planning full time with her current job. “But what if you are supposed to be a wedding planner?” I asked her. “What if this job’s purpose is to stabilize the start of a different career that you love?” Now she’s thinking about it.
Can you see your friends’ talents in ways that they can’t? Ask how they envision you using yours.
Throughout the years I’ve heard many complain about how the person who sits next to them in an office or classroom did not work as hard as they did to get there and it was unfair. I, too, have been guilty of the thought, “this can be done without a college degree, why did I get one?” But consider this: the work that you went through on the journey to today was not for the same purpose as the person sitting next to you. Maybe you will become the CEO of the company and the guy across the office will take what he learned and start his own company, completely unrelated to your current business. Or maybe his company will become a competitor to yours. Who knows?
The point is that we are all on our own path. We are unique. We are individual. This is okay. This is good.
I say good and not easy, because life is not easy. Being unique isn’t easy. Especially when we cannot see the purpose.
The preteen being bullied for their love of cartoons doesn’t know they’re going to become an artist at an animation studio. They just know they’re being bullied and want to hide their interest so they can fit in, because that’s what’s important at that age.
Just like you may not know how today’s experience is going to affect tomorrow.
Trust that you are exactly where you need to be, today, in this moment.
Embrace what is unique about you.
You have your own purpose in this world that is for you and you alone to fulfill.
a little inspiration 