Do you need to be more and have more than others in order to convince yourself that you are better than others? Do you believed that your “kind of different” makes you better than others?
Then there are the loners who are different just like no one else. They are so different that others avoid being around them. Being different for the loners can be quite painful. They have given up on being like anyone. They say they have given up on caring what their peers think about them. They believe they have been let down by others.
These individuals hate the idea that they might have to depend upon anyone outside of themselves to meet their needs. Their mantra is: “No thank you. I can do it all by myself. I don’t need your help. I’ll show you!” This is often someone who has no self-dependent esteem and no other-dependent esteem either! They may rebel against everyone in society so vehemently that their rebellion can become violent. Some will even rebel against themselves.
Despite our fear of being different, different actually can be good. You may be different from someone else, but that doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you. It doesn’t mean you are bad. You might look different, know different information, be good at different things, have a different job, live in a different neighborhood, have been born into a different race, have a different sexual orientation, or different religious beliefs, but different is simply different.
Besides, it would serve no useful purpose if everyone on the planet was exactly the same. That would be boring. As human beings, we may never totally stop comparing ourselves to others, but we can stop denigrating or degrading ourselves for being different. Then, and only then, can we let go of our fear of being different and accept that different is simply different.
