So I've Been Thinking...

The other day I was talking with a friend about a classmate. We both agreed that she had amazing speaking abilities and such composure, and that we wish we possessed it as well. I envied her natural leadership and authenticity. I was jealous of this individual.

But I wasn’t being fair to myself, and I’ve been thinking..

So often we find ourselves wishing for the things we don’t have. We want “his” car, and “her” shoes. We wish we could sing like “her”, and act like “him”. We hope to get grades like “they” do, and win competitions and earn recognition like “they” can. We envy our friends possessions, the bodies of models and actors, and the prowess of successful businessmen and women everywhere. And so it goes day in and day out, nearly every time we look around us that we are recognizing and wishing for the things that others possess. Always pushing and working to have more and go further; and we call it ambition.

Why is it though, that when we look up the word ambition in the thesaurus we see contentment as an antonym? Why shouldn’t we be content? Why can’t one be content- feeling fulfillment and gratification from what they do, and remain ambitious?

We don’t grasp the things about ourselves that deserve so much appreciation. We don’t recognize the things that make each of us so incredibly special, and unique. We are smart, we are handsome and beautiful. And people love things about us that we have never even considered. These things others see in us everyday, and many covet themselves.

My little sister has a mirror in her bedroom nearly covered with quotes, bible verses, and encouraging notes to herself. She gets it. We don’t need to look to others for the compliments and reassurance that habit and human nature require us to hear. There is fortitude in each of us, a strength that we have all nurtured to carry us through times of hardship, and often times the only cheer squad we need, is our own. No one knows you better than yourself, and no one should be able to believe in you more than you already do. Your opinion matters more than anyone else’s.

I know it’s hard, and believe me- I am the worst when it comes to self-reflection. I have empty journals everywhere, but I have come to know that there is no one-way, no right way to exercise introspection- and we can start by knowing that we have a purpose. And we were created in this image, and we are exactly the people we need to be in order to fulfill these things that only we can.

For if we spend all of our time, and if we are so busy trying to be someone else, then who is busy being us?

So I will vow to love my bad handwriting. I will love, and learn to use my creative and philosophical mind to balance my shortcomings in analogy and numbers. I vow to tell myself that I love all the quirks I have, everyday. I will be content with who I am, so that I am able to be ambitious and reach the goals I have for myself.

I vow to bring my best self forward in every situation, because the world needs me. It needs my friend, and it needs the classmate we were envious of. The world needs my sister. But most importantly- the world needs you. Exactly the way you are.