Everyone is different. Each of us has our own ideas about the world, our own opinions on everything from our favorite ice cream flavor to what we think about climate change. Sometimes, the things that are different from everything else catch our eyes. They are usually the first to be put on display. They can be considered as the most special ones, right?

Different doesn't mean wrong.

It's easy to think that different means wrong.

You wake up in the morning, and you want to make sure you're doing everything right. So you eat a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, right? You go through your morning routine—shower, brush teeth, get dressed—right? And then you get to work, and you do all the things on your to-do list, like check your email, write a report, and make some phone calls… right? All day long we're going through our lives trying to make sure we're doing things "right."

But what if you wake up tomorrow and decide to put peanut butter on your oatmeal instead of brown sugar? What if you shower at night instead of in the morning? What if you wear a bright blue skirt with those red shoes? What if you skip checking your email for an hour and spend that time reading the newspaper instead?

Is that all wrong? Maybe not. Maybe it's just different. Maybe there isn't one single way to live your life or do your job or run your business. Maybe there are many ways to do things, and not everyone has to be doing them the same way as you do.

I've been guilty of this more times than I care to admit: when I learn that someone is different from me, in a way that I don't personally understand, my first instinct is to be judgmental.

I can't say how many times I've heard about a person not being able to afford rent, or food, or medication and felt... indifferent? But the truth is, it's not indifference; it's judgment—and it's something that I need to work on.

When we're presented with people who are different from us, our brains go into overdrive trying to categorize them: race, religion, where they're from—you name it. And that's not always bad! If we were never able to categorize people based on the differences between us and them, we'd wind up in situations where we were never willing to try new foods or learn basic facts about other cultures. So categorizing isn't bad. But it can lead us down some really dangerous paths.

When we internalize the fact that someone is different from us—whatever that means—we're in danger of letting ourselves believe they are "wrong" because they are not like us. And these categories are almost always misguided.

In Conclusion

All people have something valuable to bring to the table! Think about how boring life would be if everyone was exactly the same as everybody else! And even though we might not understand why someone does or believes something differently from us, it doesn't mean they're wrong. You don't have to like every single thing about other people.

You don't have to be like everyone else. You can do things differently, and that's not just ok—it's amazing! When you're different, you see things differently. You solve problems differently. You interact with the world differently, and that means you can bring new and fresh perspectives to… well, everything.

When you're different, you're more likely to challenge accepted notions of "the way things are." This means that you might find a better way to do something than the way it's been done since the dawn of time. You might decide that a process is outdated or inefficient and create something entirely new just because it works better for YOU.

And when you think about it this way, being different isn't just empowering—it's revolutionary!

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