Others

     You go outside on almost any day and look up in the sky (and if you’re not surrounded by large city buildings) you will probably see some type of bird flying by.  Perhaps you become amazed how the bird is able to ride the wind currents and seems to effortlessly glide along on an invisible highway.     

     Is this creature “showing off” when it floats along and almost endlessly continues to move in which ever direction it seems to choose?  Is a bird “flaunting” its abilities whenever it does these things which may seem impossible to us as humans?

     Also let me ask you:  Is an ostrich NOT a bird because it CANNOT fly?  I don’t think so!  If you do any research you’ll find that the ostrich is the largest living bird species.  So would it be fair to compare this creature to other birds and ridicule or “down grade” it because it is different?

     However, the human species is very different.  We compare ourselves to EVERYONE!  I’m not as tall as they are.  I’m not as thin as they are.  I’m not as pretty as they are.  I’m from the wrong side of town.  My job is not as important as theirs.

     The list of comparisons could go on and on.  My point is WHY do we do this?  Back in 1970, Ray Stevens had a number one Billboard hit song with a line:  “Everything is beautiful in its own way.”  And that is certainly true.  However, we humans become consumed with that fact that we are DIFFERENT as if that is a bad thing!

     There’s nothing wrong with being different.  And in the final analysis it’s doesn’t really matter how others view us.  The important thing is how we view ourselves.  Take for example the following situation:

     “It is also commonly said that [the boy] had ADHD — because he daydreamed in school when he was young and was famously forgetful — and Asperger’s Syndrome, a disorder on the autism spectrum characterized by problems with social interaction and repetitive patterns of behavior. In 2003, the BBC reported that researchers at Cambridge and Oxford universities said they believed that [the boy] displayed signs of Asperger’s as a young child, when he was a loner and repeated sentences.  Whatever he had, it didn’t stop him from becoming arguably the most famous and brilliant scientist in history.”

     This “boy” was different!  But today we are still amazed at the things that Albert Einstein left behind for the scientific community.  Now I’m not saying that you have to be an “Einstein”, but you should be the best that YOU can be!  Whatever that may turn out to be. The wonderful diversity we have within the human species makes each and every day more enjoyable.  Who knows what that person may become in the future?  They may provide the cure for some presently unknown disease merely because they are different!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"If you complain about people being different.

Imagine a world where all people were like YOU!"