Attitudes And Originality

A lot of people have trouble believing in their ability to come up with worthwhile ideas and concepts. We look at other people and believe they do things of greater value than what we do.

Ralph Waldo Emerson observed that we will hang on the words of a wise and famous person while readily discounting the value of the same thoughts and sentiments when we think them ourselves. I once read that most people would rather die than speak in public. Or, they insist this is so...

Everyone has a completely unique gift, talent and contribution to make to the world. All of us have a rich and varied personal history and experience which makes for fascinating listening, or reading. We all have a tale to tell.

There are countless people to whom our experiences and impressions of life are priceless because of the encouragement they gain, what they learn and the glimpse of a different experience. Most of us do not give ourselves the benefit of the doubt, and so we don't speak our truth or follow the path of our own hearts.

Originality is not prized as highly as it might be in our world of the next dollar and the newest piece of technology. Your originality is your inner being expressing itself. As there are seasons to the year, so there are seasons to our lives, and they do not follow the tick of the clock. They arise at what seems like the oddest moments. We don't pay enough attention to our inner lives, and we usually act surprised when these inner impulses and drives appear.

There was a time I believed I had nothing worthwhile to say, when I "just knew" I would be laughed at or (worst of all) ignored if I spoke up. So I joined Toastmasters, and discovered that behind the low self-esteem lay a reservoir of things to say, and I believed in them passionately. To quote Emerson again: "Do the thing and you shall have the power." So I am doing it, and it hasn't killed me yet. Not doing it was killing me.

Believe in yourself as best you can, and realize you are uniquely you. To think and act as though you have a contribution to make to the world, a contribution no one else can make, is the difference between a sense of accomplishment and a sense of futility.

There are a lot of influences in our world that seem to make us powerless in the face of life. Understanding you have a unique contribution to make to the world returns to you the sense of identity and purpose which many of us lack from time to time.

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