By Muhammad Faiz
“It is so important for us to lean into our individuality and to embrace our weirdness. Do not be afraid of being different because God has made you, you for a reason. So know that in your heart you are enough and the more that you lean into that, the brighter you will shine,” – Vanessa Hudgens
Being different and unique in our own rights is something that we all must aspire to be. It is special to be different in the world that is full of people who are trying hard to fit in with the rest of the world. It goes along with Martha Graham’s quote, which is ‘you are unique, and if that has not been fulfilled, then something has been lost’.
From the quote alone, we should know that the weirdness within us is our own unique abilities and traits. When we are talking about our own unique abilities and traits, it is definitely best for us to embrace it wholeheartedly. However, somehow in a world where melting pot is usually the norm, most of the people refused to be their own person.
In a way, it should make us wonder why such situations would ever happen in this world nowadays. Are we not supposed to encourage each other to embrace their own sense of self in this modern world? Is it due to how people dislike of the differences between people that led them to be sceptical to the differences? On the other hand, is it the unfamiliarity that exists in between them?
When we talk about always trying to fit in with the society, one term always comes in mind and that term is melting pot. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the melting pot is a place where a variety of races, cultures, or individuals assimilate into a cohesive whole. As amazing as being a collective whole community is, it is important for us to stay true to ourselves and never lose that sense of ourselves. The big question is how to stay true to ourselves without completely losing ourselves in the middle of it?
In order for us to stay true to ourselves, the first way is never losing ourselves in a trap of comparison. Metaphorically, a comparison of a trap will feel like a crazy, complicated maze, as we will never win one. By doing that, we tend to put more focus on the negative side of the comparison rather than the positive side of it and that is never a smart move.
We often tend to get carried away doing the comparison and ended up losing self-esteem and self-confidence.
Besides that, we also need to learn how to embrace our own individualities. Automatically, it will also lead us to embrace our differences.
We are our own entire person with our own set of personalities and we should celebrate that. However, for some people, it is not easy to do just that as sometimes it is hard to fully embrace it.
Many people often feel insecured with being their own individualities that cause them not to fully embrace it especially for teenagers and young adults.
Not to mention that by fully embracing our own individualities, it will make the continuous effort in loving our own selves much easier. Before we can fully love ourselves, it is definitely the best step to take a step back and re-evaluate our lives.
What does it mean by re-evaluating our lives?
What it does mean by re-evaluating our lives is to look at all different aspects of our lives. We all have our own strengths, weaknesses, unique abilities and traits and we definitely should embrace it. In a way, we are assessing it all and acknowledging it as a part of ourselves.
Indirectly, it will make us become much more confident in life. By being more confident, it will help us to deal with life day by day much easier as we have this newfound confidence within us.
Thus, it is so important for us to embrace our own selves, the good, the bad, all in between, to ensure a much healthier lifestyle. ***