Uniquely you

Something I love to do is sit in the park or in a coffee shop window and watch all the people as they bustle by. I am amazed at just how many people there are on this planet; and even more intrigued by how completely unique each individual is. We each possess a nose, two eyes and a mouth, yet we are all incredibly different. Some are short, some are round, some are slim, and some are dark. Some are eccentric, others are straight laced; but no one is the same.

How strange it is then that most of us trade this originality for a boxed in existence as we try to imitate those around us. How fantastically boring life would be if we were all the same; and we’ve heard it before, if you try to be like someone else you will always be second best.

I believe that we were all made to be and achieve things that only we can do, and to reach that potential we should embrace the freedom of our unique differences.

My gorgeous friend hid a secret from the rest of us throughout our entire high school careers; she was a closet heavy metal fan!!! Although this isn’t a serious revelation, it was a shocking one for the rest of her Hanson loving, BackStreet Boys singing BFF’s! My friend is soft spoken, a kindhearted person with the most gentle nature. She is the kind of person who cries during her favourite soap and would grow faint at the mere mention of blood-she has ironically since become a doctor (she is apparently full of surprises). To discover that her favourite song was Violent Pornography by System of a Down was surprising to say the least. I’m not sure if she hid this because she didn’t want to risk being different from our group of friends; but I think we do sometimes suppress our likes, bend our beliefs and hide our desires from friends just so we can “fit in”.

When I visited The National Gallery recently something that struck me was the women in the paintings. None of them were slim and toned but rather more round and voluptuous. Convinced that an artist would not paint women that were all considered “ugly”, it must have been beautiful to have a little more meat on your bones, unlike today. Millions of women strive to achieve a beautiful body with exhausting and restricting diets because we are sold the image of conventional beauty as being skinny. I for one am very bad tempered when hungry and think it would be cruel to those around me if I were on a perpetual diet. But this is about more than just whether you are a size 8 or 12; it’s about being true to yourself and standing out amongst the millions of people around you. Hope this has encouraged you even a tiny bit to enjoy being unique.