Embracing what makes you different
Our uniqueness, our individuality, and our life experience molds us into fascinating beings.
— Linda Thompson
If I told you that you had a 1 in 400 trillion chance to win the lottery, would you believe you could actually be the winner? And if you happened to be the one person out of 400 trillion to win, how lucky, or blessed, would you believe you were?
Well, that is exactly what the odds were for you to be born. Seriously. If you break down the odds of your ancestral chain continuing over thousands of years, add the odds of your parents meeting at the exact time and place they did, and then factor in the odds of the specific reproduction that successfully took place, the odds that the you who exists today would be here, listening, watching, or reading this message, range anywhere from 1 in 400 trillion to 1 in 400 quadrillion. It’s an almost unfathomable metric. And yet, here you are.
If you had one in 400 quadrillion chances at achieving anything, and you actually did, you would call that a miraculous feat. You, my friend, are already a miracle. A living, breathing, achieving miracle. Before you’ve achieved anything, you have already defeated incredible odds. If you didn’t believe you were special before, let this be your confirmation that you are.
This month, we’re going to unpack uniqueness.
Uniqueness (noun): The quality or state of being one-of-a-kind, distinct, and unlike anything else.
Your specific biological makeup, upbringing, environment, experiences, beliefs, fears, and inspirations come together in a package as unique as your fingerprint. No one on this earth has ever, currently does, or ever will think and act exactly like you do, experience your particular experiences, or create what is uniquely yours to create. Everything that makes you youis what makes you distinct.
We live in a culture that often rewards likeness more than it praises uniqueness. Social profiles gain engagement by joining trends, reacting to posts, or reenacting what came before. Kids typically try to fit in and assimilate as much as they can, because standing out can make a person a target for ridicule. But in adulthood, and especially today, being unique makes you stand out tenfold. We live in a society that is in many ways lonelier than it was before the rise of the internet, and people crave connection. People connect to authenticity.
I think Cardi B is a perfect example of this. She is who she is, unapologetically. She doesn’t code-switch, and she doesn’t sugarcoat. For every individual ridicule she may receive online, there are hundreds of thousands of more people who love her just the way she is.
Who is the you that not everyone gets to see? What’s something about you that sets you apart from the majority? Even if there are things about yourself you wouldn’t call “positive” or “your best self,” who you really are isn’t something to run from. Who you are right now, at this very moment, is valuable. Whether it’s a quality you aspire to strengthen or something challenging that shows you’re a work in progress, these are the things that make you special. You hold a unique role in this world that only you can fill, and we want to see it.
Embrace who you are fully, and watch how much brighter your light will shine. Thank God, he blessed us all with the miraculous wonder that is you.