Thought for the day: 17 February 2017

You are extraordinarily unique!

You are special. We all have different gifts and talents, abilities, preferences, traits and so much more. We are all unique in our own wonderfully individual ways.

The thing I find somewhat sobering in the above saying, is that I wonder how often, as civilisation has developed, how many people have lived their lives feeling stupid, wrong, naughty, ignorant, rude, evil, immoral, wicked, depraved… and similar negative feelings when they were actually just fish who couldn’t climb trees? I wonder how often civilisation has negatively judged and labelled people and then treated them accordingly as outcasts or idiots, when actually they were just different and wouldn’t fit the current mold of that time or place?

Look at some of the world’s greatest artists and musicians, philosophers, poets, writers, scientists, athletes, politicians and sportspeople. Few are exceptional in more than one or two fields. No-one excels at everything!  For some it can take a lifetime to find their calling or to uncover their passion(s).

I wonder how often in my past I have thought myself foolish for not being able to do what I thought I ought to be doing – when actually I was a goldfish who was pretty good at being a goldfish but lousy at climbing trees, or throwing balls or playing chess.

I believe that I am unique, and that I’m where I am supposed to be. If I’m a goldfish, I want to embrace my ‘goldfishness’ and to be the best goldfish that I can be.

Or as Abraham Lincoln said  “Whatever you are, be a good one.”