What makes you so special? This question can be read two different ways. The first is reminiscent of the playground insult jeered by a taunting schoolmate. The second is the important one – what makes you the wonderful, amazing, unique and special individual that you are?
When someone compliments you do you smile and say thankyou or do you feel a bit embarrassed and uncomfortable and try to brush the pleasant words away, feeling that you don’t really deserve the praise? Well, let me tell you – you do deserve all the praise and approval and appreciation that there is – just because you are you. None of us are here by mistake, and none of us are the people we are by mistake. You are meant to be the person you are and who you are is your most precious gift to the world.
Stop putting yourself down and comparing yourself to other people. None of us is perfect and ideas about perfection are variable anyway. Society’s ‘ideal person specification’ changes drastically over time. Winners of beauty contests when I was growing up would look positively porky on the runway today, and in earlier times ideas about behaviour meant being far more bound by definite roles and rules of etiquette than what is considered normal now. Instead of trying to fit into what you think other people want you to be like, why not spend some time getting to know who you really are and getting to like being that person?
How would your best friend describe you? Would they find anything of value to mention? Would they be pleased that you are in their life and be proud to be known as your friend? How about being your own best friend and finding something good to celebrate about being you today.
