Day 334. The odd one out

  We all want to fit in, be accepted and appreciated by the people we like or admire. Some will just be themselves and hope that will work out fine while others will feel like they have to change some tiny parts of them to make sure they do fit in. If they get to do that, at some point when they look in the mirror they will be facing a stranger, a person way too different than they are. It sounds cliché, but it happens every day. Mostly, to people who have self esteem issues. 

   It's hard to stay true to yourself and know that you might not fit in a group you like. Being social "animals", we want to be surrounded by people and not just any kind, but awesome ones. The kind of people who make us feel awesome as well. And there's where our mistake is. We try to be awesome with the wrong group. Why wrong? Because we have to try to make ourselves liked. 

   So my lesson for today is: first love yourself and the right people will love you too. Don't push it and don't try to be somebody you're not only to please others around you. Stay true to yourself and learn how to assertively tell the others that you're different. I know, common interests connect people, but just because you don't like the exact same music as somebody else, doesn't mean you can't still have common interests:) Be you and never be ashamed to stand for yourself: "No, dude, I don't drink vodka or tequila. I don't listen to death metal and I don't smoke. But I did love that psychological movie you were talking about and I drink beer. How about that?" 

Day 174. What sets us apart

   Today I played a game with kids of different ages and I was fascinated by the result:) 

   We talked about physical differences between kids and people in general. They had to compare every two kids I picked. Then, they had to say something they like about every child that was in front of the class. The cute thing was to watch the little ones say "We like him/her because he/she is beauuuutiful" or "Because he/she picks up the toys after playing with them" at EVERY child they saw in front of them:) Interestingly, a year older kids (middle class ones) generally said: "Because he/she is so cheerful and cute / Because he/she plays with me". What's changing inside their little brain in a year to make them see things differently? And how does this change appear? I'm so interested in how they perceive the world:) I bet their parents and teachers have a lot to say in how they grow up, but I still love their way of seeing things and people. Of course, there were kids who said "because she's ugly" and I had to kindly explain that wasn't a thing "to like" about someone, that we're all beautiful and we all have something beautiful about ourselves. They found it tough to understand, especially when they had to say something nice about the naughtiest boy in class, but they still have time to get there:)

   I thought about how we, adults, perceive the ones around us and the characteristics we like in people. Of course, experience molds us and makes us see things according to our expectations, but it's nice to notice how everything begins and how it develops:) So today I realized grown ups have to be very careful of how they teach the little ones interpret what they see. We're their models and we have to judge less if we want them to grow up beautifully and not make the mistakes we've made:)