Please read Part 1 of this article if you have not already done so my friend. To do so, please click on the following link, Part 1
In my experience, because I bought into the notion that I deserved to be ostracized, ridiculed and rejected – because of what made me different – I criticized and berated myself for being different. Consequently, I had a difficult time celebrating the possibilities surrounding what made me different. Subsequently, instead of feeling connected – with a sense of belonging and inclusion – I experienced feelings of alienation and isolation. Instead of using my time and energy to explore how I could use what made me different, I sought to gain the approval and validation of the herd.
I continued to feel alienated and isolated from the “herd” and from myself until I experienced a spiritual awakening. The spiritual awakening revealed to me that I could no longer afford to be distracted by what the herd could not understand or accept.
My spiritual awakening revealed to me that I no longer had to wait for the herd to recognize, accept or approve the value of what made me different. My spiritual awakening revealed to me that I needed to begin to use what made me different despite the “herds” continued ridicule and exclusion. My spiritual awakening revealed to me that a loving God wanted to use what made me different to be a blessing to the “herd”, as well as to individuals ostracized by the herd – just as Santa used what made Rudolph different to bless the herd, the mission and to many individuals outside of the herd.
In your experience, you may have also found that – as Rudolph and I have discovered – that there is something that makes you different. You may be a traumatic brain injury survivor, an individual living with a disability or you may have experienced some other kind of trauma, abuse or adversity. Consequently, you may find yourself feeling ridiculed,ostracized and excluded by the herd. In the process, you may have a difficult time accepting yourself for being who you are as an individual. As I have shared in this article, I can identify with you. But that is not the end of the story.
The end of the story is that a loving God is going to use what makes us different, as Santa used Rudolph. What makes you and I, different, is essential. What makes you and I different, is essential to God fulfilling a unique mission through us. What makes you and I different, will be used to draw the herd to fulfill its purpose. What makes you and I different, will be used as beacons of hope to draw our brother and sisters from the shadows of isolation feelings of alienation. What makes you and I different, will make us leaders. What makes you and I different, will help dreams live in people. What makes you and I different will empower people to move beyond the shore (s) of their fear and apprehension. What makes you and I different, will give people courage. What makes you and I different, will bring about the change that we want to see in our world.
I like quotes. I would like to share several of these quotes with you.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” Mahatma Ghandi
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” Mahatma Ghandi
“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” Mother Teresa
“You don’t have to be a person of influence to be influential. In fact, the most influential people in my life are probably not even aware of the things they’ve taught me.” Scott Adams American Cartoonist
“Insist on yourself, never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life’s cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you have only an extemporaneous half-possession…Do that which is assigned to you, and you can not hope too much or dare too much.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“If you advance confidently in the direction of your dreams and endeavor to live the life that you have imagined…you will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Henry David Thoreau
You have my permission to share my articles and or video presentations with anyone you believe could benefit, however, please attribute me as being the author of the article (s) video presentation (s), and provide a link back to the article (s) on Second Chance to Live. In the event that you have questions, please send those questions to me. All questions are good questions. Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you. Copyright 2016.
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