Every single day I wake up at 8:30 a.m. I take a shower, brush my teeth, and put on my clothes. In lots of ways, I'm just like you. I drive to class like a lot of you, I eat lunch around noon, and I have a job. I go to class 90 percent of the time, and there are times when I consider patting myself on the back for getting up and actually going.
On the outside, you might consider me average in basically every aspect. You may have passed me on my daily walk to class, thinking nothing of me. After all, I'm average looking, average talking, socially average, and basically just a face in the crowd, right? No.
That's where some people are led astray. Now, this is no plea for you to pay attention to me, or to try to track me down, that would only make me even more paranoid.
Have you ever heard the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover"? How many people can honestly say that they always honor that guideline in life? Not many.
Maybe we SHOULD follow that guideline. It's true isn't it? Can you tell if someone is smart by looking at him? Are you able to tell who is better off financially by looks? If a person doesn't go out and party every night, does that make him a hermit? The thing is, we have no idea what's going on in that person's life. So, how can we judge something we know nothing about?
The other day I was talking to a friend and he told me that I was different. At first, I took being different as a bad thing, and after saying a few words of choice to him, he looked at me like I had lost my mind. He quickly told me that being different is definitely a good thing, and that the fact that I'm not a follower makes me so.
So, later I thought about what he had said to me. I wondered why being called different made me feel inadequate, and why I felt that if I wasn't going along with everyone else, that it was somehow a bad thing.
I now think that being told you are different is the best compliment that anyone could ever give you. The fact that you stand alone in the crowd, being your own person, is a good thing. I mean, it's a great thing that you don't conform to meet another's standards.
I'm also not saying that you should rebel against the government or go naked to class tomorrow because you feel you have the right to. There are certain basic rules that we know we shouldn't break, they're called ethics.
Everyone has a story. The story of their life I guess you could say. It's that story that makes you different. So, even if you wear the exact same outfit as your roommate, part your hair exactly the same, or drive the same car, you'd still be different. If two things look alike and act alike, that doesn't always mean that they are alike. I'm not you, and you're not me, and even if we tried our best to make us the same we couldn't. Kinda ironic, huh?
The best person you can be is yourself, and being unique is the thing that in the long run people will remember the most about you. The simple fact that you stood out and made a difference in your life.
So, be different, even if only you notice that you are. Live your own life, and have fun with it. Maybe no one will ever give you a cookie for all the good stuff you've done, but hey you just might feel a little better about yourself. Also, don't be so quick to judge others either. The fact that they're a little different than you makes them who they are, and frankly, I think you'd be even less happy if they were exactly like you now wouldn't you?
If someone tells you that you're different, say thank you. It's a good thing, trust me. So, maybe you'll see me on my daily walk to class, and maybe you'll say hey and maybe you won't, that was your choice wasn't it? Maybe I won't ever get to find out who you are, or your story that makes you different from John Doe, but even if I just glance at you, I'll know that you have a story, and hopefully it won't be just a copy of someone else's.
Justin Johnson is the Features Editor at the George-Anne. He is a sophomore majoring in business and journalism. He can be reached at [email protected]
