At what point in our lives being "different" becomes either our ticket to success or our ultimate reason for being doomed? And what if we miss the boat and forget to wave our "I am proud to be different" flag at the right place, at the right time?
As a small kid, I remember not being particularly keen on standing out. After all, being different many times seems to scream: "Come here, pick on me". And how often have you said "He/She is just different" and meant it as a complement?
I started going to grade school when I was only 4, so I was visibly smaller than the rest of the class. No, I was not gifted by any means. I guess I just wanted to be close to my sister and the school and my parents went along with it. I am glad they did it, but being smaller meant interacting with the other kids was not necessarily an easy task.
To this day, my family still remembers the infamous "Yogurt episode". It goes like this ... A bigger kid was trying to take away my yogurt. So I went and got my big 6 year old sister to defend me. And while they argued about it, I did what any other 4 year old would have done: I ate it. Take THAT big kid!!! ... Funny thing is nowadays my mom sometimes wonders if that was really MY yogurt. But that's beside the point, and I honestly have no idea whose yogurt it really was.
But I have digressed...
My point is that as we grow up, if we are lucky enough, we naturally go from "feeling different" to understanding that "we are unique". And when that moment comes, it’s pretty cool if you ask me.
As a small kid, I remember not being particularly keen on standing out. After all, being different many times seems to scream: "Come here, pick on me". And how often have you said "He/She is just different" and meant it as a complement?
I started going to grade school when I was only 4, so I was visibly smaller than the rest of the class. No, I was not gifted by any means. I guess I just wanted to be close to my sister and the school and my parents went along with it. I am glad they did it, but being smaller meant interacting with the other kids was not necessarily an easy task.
To this day, my family still remembers the infamous "Yogurt episode". It goes like this ... A bigger kid was trying to take away my yogurt. So I went and got my big 6 year old sister to defend me. And while they argued about it, I did what any other 4 year old would have done: I ate it. Take THAT big kid!!! ... Funny thing is nowadays my mom sometimes wonders if that was really MY yogurt. But that's beside the point, and I honestly have no idea whose yogurt it really was.
But I have digressed...
My point is that as we grow up, if we are lucky enough, we naturally go from "feeling different" to understanding that "we are unique". And when that moment comes, it’s pretty cool if you ask me.
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