As we grow as unique persons, we learn to respect the uniqueness of others. – Robert H. Schuller
Growing up, we struggle to fit in with our peers. For the most part, kids dress the same, wear their hair the same way, and act the same way. Adolescense is sea of sameness, and those that chose to buck the popular trends tend to be ridculed, or ostracized for their differences. I was watching my local high school’s previous years graduation ceremony on the local cable access station the other night and looking at the graduates I was unable to identify a single person. Granted all the students wore mortarboards, and the girls were in white and the boys in blue, but still, you would thing there would be some individual characteristics that would identify people, but there wasn’t. All the girls had long straight hair that hung loose. It was almost as if, instead of being individuals, they were a single unit of boys and a single unit of girls. Differences at that age are not something to be celebrated.
As we grow and mature, we get to branch out and develop things that set us apart from one another. This is a good thing – at least I think it is. And, as we grow and change, we start to celebrate the things in us that are different, and to recognize and celebrate the differences in others. Ours is a diverse world and it deserves to be celebrated. We are all unique individuals – share your uniqueness with others and revel in the uniqueness of those around you.
