It's okay to be different - even weird

 Have you ever been called "different"? Did you every suspect that they were really thinking "you're weird"?  There can be pressure today, not just in our teen years, to conform, to stick to the mainstream and "fit in ".  But if you look around at nature you see all sorts of differences, even within types of flora and fauna. When I go on my morning walks I see and hear all sorts of creatures. I am often greeted with a chorus of frogs, unseen but clearly heard. I see scampering squirrels and hopping wild rabbits. It gets me in a good mood for the day. 

And then there are the birds. In essence they are the same creature - two-footed beaked flying things. But we know that there is so much variety, in every way. They look different, they sound different, they behave and fly differently. The little chickadees and quail flit swiftly from place to place, darting for crumbs and then away again. The ducks furiously quack like they hate to fly, while the geese honk as they head onward in formation across the sky. The herons lift off gracefully as they launch themselves into the sky, while the crows play chicken with cars, zipping off quickly at the last second.  And then there are the Stellar Jays who mimic others birds with their voices and are known among vacationers as campground thieves. 

So why should we be afraid of being different, or sticking out? Sometimes it is because we don't have company. We have normal stamped into us all by those, at home, at school, in society, who fear that we will be hurt if we stick out. Yes, some feel threatened by us being different, but I think a lot of well-meaning people, both parents and not, are afraid we will be rejected if we appear different. Sometimes we are restrained by words - that we don't want to apply to us.

I encountered one of those words in my life - weird. Nobody wants to be called weird. It has strong negative connotations - a bad label. I had a particular unusual food combination choice that I liked but many considered weird. I had a coworker who repeatedly used that word to describe it. Frankly one day I had had enough, so I said "okay, so I'm weird, somebody has to be, might as well be me". After that she never used the word again - I had neutralized its sting. It didn't hurt me since I had accepted it.

What labels have you had? What potentially keeps you from being you? Next time someone tries to limit you (even if it's just in your mind) by using a label like 'different', or 'weird', think of the birds and take pride in your 'difference'. Try to imagine how you can turn their words against them, or better yet how you can use that word to motivate yourself to be different. It can be a great challenge, but I believe you are up to it. And you have plenty of company if you just look around. If we were all quacking ducks afraid to fly, how far would that get us and how boring it would be.:)