Why You're Special

Sometimes you hear a person express something that just echoes in your heart so loudly that the sound never really goes away, even days later. And for the last few days, I've thought a lot about why I am special.

But let me go further back first.

When I was in high school, I learned that we all want to feel special. And when you're that young (heck, even at my age now), you don't know yourself well enough to understand why you're special. So we all tried to do something that made us feel special. I can think of several people who felt special because they developed talents and shared them with the world. I can even think of one person in particular who spent all of high school trying to distinguish himself as special through his academic achievements- which he did a really good job of.

But then I think of many who, for lots of different reasons, set themselves apart because they were different, broken, or unpopular. I knew this guy who I knew pretty well and found he's actually really sociable and compassionate and I knew he could go really far in life with his personality. But he hid it all under this guise he had created. 

He might as well have written across his forehead "I have problems".

That's what made him special. His problems. His imperfections. His struggles.

Eventually anyone who goes through life like that gets a rude awakening along the way. 

They realize that everyone's imperfect and struggles and has problems. 

And many of them have the same problems and weaknesses as you.

Then the heartbreaking reality sets in.

Your problems don't make you special.

But we all want to feel special.

I would actually argue that it's more of a need. In the noisy, ultra-connected world we live in today, it's the only thing that makes us feel relevant at all. It's the only thing that makes us feel alive.

Max Lucado wrote a children's book on this exact idea called "You Are Special".

Punchinello is a Wemmick, people made of wood who act a lot like we do. Wemmicks walk around all day putting stars on the people with desirable characteristics and grey dots on people with no talent, chipped paint or rough finishes.

Lucia is a Wemmick with no dots or stars at all because none of the dots or stars that other Wemmicks place on her will stick. When Punchinello wonders why nothing will stick and that she is confident and happy, he wants to know her secret.

She teaches him that she frequently visits Eli, the Woodcarver and creator of Wemmicks. 

Eli has the ability to remove any reaction from public praise or condemnation and instill confidence.

So here's what I've been realizing:

You didn't come to this world to become special.

You were born special.

What made that young man special is that, despite his weaknesses and his problems, he could overcome them and be more than he was. Despite his setbacks, he could do good for those around him.

But until he stopped relying on those problems to make him feel special, he could never move forward.

Once you see the truth, you start being true to yourself.

There's The Rub.