Unpack Your Uniqueness

You are UNIQUE!

You are unique – that’s it. You’re not “somewhat unique” nor are you “very unique”. You are unique. You are the only one like you.

Unique, you see, is a term that cannot be modified by an adverb or degree or a comparative adverb.

For instance, if someone says that you are “somewhat unique” they probably mean you are unusual, maybe a little odd, or even weird. If someone describes you as “very unique” it probably means that you are exceptional in some way or maybe eccentric, or worst of all, frightening.

But either way, they are not using the word unique correctly. Unique means only one thing: one of a kind. So you can’t be “very” one of a kind or “somewhat” one of a kind. You can only be one of a kind.

And that’s what YOU are. You are one of a kind.

You look the way you look. Unless you have a great deal of money to spend on plastic surgery, you can make only minor adjustments to your appearance. You can change your hairstyle, alter your diet, modify your exercise program and refurbish your wardrobe, but ultimately, you will look like you and you always will.

You think the way you think. No one processes information like you do. That’s because of your unique experiences in life: The environment you grew up in, your education, your interests, the people you’ve met along the way, all of these experiences and people have left their impression on you and have impacted the way you sort out all the information placed before you at any given moment.

You feel the way you feel. No one reacts emotionally to life just like you do, and for the same reasons given in the previous paragraph. My brother and I had the same demanding math teacher in high school. I ended up hating math and he ended up loving it. Go figure.

So don’t try to be someone else. Be you. Don’t talk or walk or think or sing or dress or groom or live like someone else or some group just because you think they are cool or just because they want you to conform to them. And don’t allow others to diminish the real you just because you don’t quite fit their ideas of what you should do or who you should be.

Oscar Wilde said, “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” Don’t allow that description to apply to you.

Unpack your uniqueness. Let the real you shine. Drop the phony imitations of others and be uniquely you. It was the late great jazz singer Billie Holliday who said, “If I’m going to sing like someone else, then I don’t need to sing at all.”

You see, you’re not your best you can be if you are trying to be someone else; but you are your best when you are totally you. And that is for one simple reason: you are unique – that’s it. You’re not “somewhat unique” nor are you “very unique”, you are unique. You are the only one like you.

Your swift kick in the pants for this week is this – stop imitating others and unpack your very own uniqueness.

1 thought on “Unpack Your Uniqueness

  1. Great article on uniqueness Ron. A good reminder to me not to fake it just to be more likeable or hide my opinions on things. Yes, I am the BEST when I am totally me and honest. Thanks for your good words — you are UNIQUE!

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