Please Celebrate Your Youniqueness

Beware of shrinking yourself for the benefit of others

Ali Hall

May 28, 2023

Photo by Christopher Campbell on Unsplash

You have a wonderful opportunity during your lifetime. One role that no one else can fulfill. And that’s to be the best possible version of yourself. Embrace all your quirks, idiosyncrasies, peculiarities, and effervescent youuniqueness.

As soon as we are born, we are shoehorned through a mould. We are taught how to behave, what to think, and to adhere to gender stereotypes. Cajouled onto the conveyor belt of life.

When we are “too much,” we are squashed down. When we “aren’t enough,” we are shamed.

Like an intricate and sculpted diamond, we are each handmade individuals. Despite expectations, the human psyche is not produced in a sweatshop.

Imagine a world where instead of trying to blend in and be like everyone else, we stood proudly in our own Aurora Borealis of light.

Remember what they say about comparison

Theodore Roosevelt famously said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”

I grew up in the shadows of a sibling. I lived a life of comparison. Urged to be more like someone else, anyone else, and less like myself.

But it’s not just the comparison to others that anchors us to misery. It’s the comparison with past versions of ourselves.

I’m different today from who I was a year ago, even a month ago, and in some micro ways to the person I was yesterday. So are you!

It is tempting to berate ourselves with derogatory comments if we feel we have deteriorated in our minds or bodies. And yet we are sloth-like in recognising all the changes we have endured during the chasm between our polarised comparisons, which account for our evolution. Life is a journey of discovery and adaptation.

Accepting that change is inevitable and that our looks, weight, performance, ability, skill set, relationships, character, happiness, and place in this world ebbs and flows is an important lesson of self-love and acceptance. This acceptance takes us by the hand and guides us gently to a place of surrender. A place where we no longer try to swim upriver and exhaust ourselves fighting against the current of our life.

Be unapologetically yourself

I’m reading a novel called In a thousand different ways by Cecelia Ahern. The protagonist is a highly sensitive person with a difference. Not only is she attuned to other people's feelings and emotions, but she also sees colours in and around them. Colours depicting their emotions, thoughts, and darkest secrets. She consumes these colours and is affected, sometimes suffocated, by others.

The protagonist views this superpower as an affliction. She retreats from society and hides away to protect herself. It is only when she learns how to embrace her youniqueness that she rises like the sun on a brand new day and shines her light for the whole world to bask in.

The world needs your light!

Think of yourself as a peacock. Sure, you can exist and look pretty exceptional in yourself, dragging your train of individuality behind you, holding it closed, and concealing it from public view. Spread those feathers, stand up in full vibrancy, and have the confidence to be unapologetically yourself. Fan your incredible self like a peacock tail; show the world how incredible you are.

Remember, a peacock doesn’t shrink himself to please others.

It’s clichéd, but it’s true

Never dull your light for anyone else’s happiness. If someone expects you to suppress your sparkle, do you really want to spend time in their company?

It’s no coincidence that the word unique sounds like younique.

Embrace your youniqueness and celebrate yourself for who you are and all the magnetism you bring to the world around you. Listen to what attracts and repels you, and follow your energies. It doesn’t matter if it’s not cool or fashionable; what’s important is that you embrace your authenticity.

Spread your wings, my little butterflies; let the sun energize your souls. Go and flutter around the beautiful flowers and bask in the warmth of self-love.

How do you embrace your youniqueness? I’d love to hear your input in the comments.