Sunday, April 24, 2011

Being Different

Settle for ordinary?  Never.

Why?  Because the pursuit of greatness is its own reward.

Sometimes we need to pause and remind ourselves why we are who we are, and that's ok.  Life is crazy, it's easy to get distracted.  Perhaps you are different from most people-- you don't automatically "buy in" to what everyone else is doing... something inside you believes there is more to life than being a number.  You want to be different, you want to matter.

Being different can be a lonely road.  The desire that prompts us to be more than what life hands us can leave us frustrated at times.  Don't let it get you down.  If you choose to be a rock that stands out in the riverbed, don't let the the eroding currents of social pressure discourage you.  The stone that stands against the stream can become polished and beautiful. Still, a little healthy perspective can go a long way in helping you continue being who you want to be.  Especially if what makes you happy is something that frequently leaves you exhausted, wondering if you are crazy for wanting what you want. So what can we do to recharge our batteries?

Look for beauty in simple things.

You are art.  Don't roll your eyes, it's true.  Everything you do is an exhibition of the most amazing work of art in the world: the human soul.  Everything you do is slowly but surely creating something bigger, something that matters.  The Grand Canyon was created one tiny step at a time, over a period of millions of years.  Every day your life adds up into the incredible collective that we lovingly refer to as a magnificent human being.

Greatness does not happen in 120 minutes, unlike the exciting movies that we watch.  Greatness is not a destination, is it a state of mind that takes us on a journey, and that journey is what makes life wonderful.  So if you want to think great thoughts... slow down and let it happen, one thought at a time. If you want to do great things, pay attention each day for opportunities to do something good that you could have just as easily ignored. Keep doing that every day and you will wake up one day and realize your life is actually different than it was the year before.  I use this principle in my own life to create positive change, and I can tell you it is truly a life-saver.

EVERYTHING starts with choice.  You can choose to be a little more honest today than you were yesterday.  You can choose to be a little more humble today.  If someone tells you that they did not like something you did, maybe you really weren't as considerate as you could have been.  You can choose to be objective.  By definition, being truly objective is pretty much impossible- but the act of genuinely trying to see the big picture, can stretch us like an overzealous yoga teacher.  (It doesn't sound like it, but that's a good thing!)

It doesn't matter if you are "good" at choosing to be better each day, just keep focusing on the fact that you DO have a choice in the matter. That is the most important part, because change has to start inside you.  Choice is the most powerful catalyst in the universe, yet we take it for granted constantly!  It was a human choice to research splitting atoms.  It was a human choice to use the knowledge gained from that research to build a weapon.  It was a human choice to put that weapon on a plane and erase an entire city of people off the face of the Earth. Then it was a human choice to do it more than once. The ability to choose is clearly the single most god-like power we possess as human beings, which can be exercised to positive or negative effect.

So anyway... don't pressure yourself about things that inherently take time, that is why new year resolutions fail.  Learn to see the beauty in simple things.  Celebrate the art of being yourself.  Be patient, enjoy the journey for the valuable experience that it is.  Respect your power to choose, use it to do something good every day.  Don't let it get you down if being different from the masses is lonely or frustrating, remember: the pursuit of greatness is its own reward!