When You Stand Out: What It Means to Be Different
Personal growth
It was just before the sun prepared to set; I was walking from work and a bird, white, a bit different from the rest of the clan, caught my sight. I kept looking at it until I couldn’t.
I would say it was not only the color being the reason for making me stop and look at it, but something about it was different — it could be how the bird flew in the opposite direction, moving apart from the other birds.
It made me think — had I even notice the bird has it not differed from others? Has it not stood out?
Same goes with people —
There will be one’s going in line with others and doing what we expect them to do, and then there are one’s going in the opposite direction. They stand out. They give the world another perspective, a different outlook, and a unique way to look at things.
If you’re from the latter category, then this basically is for you. Standing out is good, but you also want to draw a line to how far are you going to stand out.
I’m not telling you to step out of your comfort zone if you don’t feel like it. I’m just asking you to feel comfortable in whatever capacity you do.
The rest of my journey back home was quite a blur. I don’t remember what else I passed by. See what happened there? It wrapped my mind around. This is the effect it has on people when you do something incredibly unexpected.
In reality, humans are social animals — want to fit in with people. But also crave attention and for that, you need to stand out; you need to take the flight in the opposite direction to get the eyes on you.
What to look out for —
You also want to be cautious when and what kind of attention you ask for. Sometimes, to look different, we often let go of the originality of our personality. You can stand out and look different with whoever you are.
It is incredibly important to stay true to yourselves and not lose who you are.
So, work for it and stand out, be different. All you have got is one life to make it — I would say go all in!
But not at the cost of your originality or sanity.
