I find that a lot of people struggle to be themselves, especially when they’re surrounded by others who seem to be more confident, assertive, and even more beautiful.
Most of the time it’s because you don’t even know who you are yet, I mean, that’s me – still finding my groove; I’ve cut the cords with trying create this perfect vision of how my life is meant to pan out. But it’s like drugs – this sense of wanting to be a certain way, one day you’re high – loving the skin that you’re in, and the next, you’re wishing you could be Michelle Lewin, SA style. It’s easy to get lost in ‘want’ of other people’s lives when you’re scrolling through social media and following feeds, and you forget that you have just as much chance of achieving the goals of the person you’re following because they’ve done it and that’s proof that it’s possible.
A friend of mine is a primary school teacher and she was telling me about the poor public speaking skills of her grade seven girls. She said that their biggest problem was not their performance while speaking, it was that they weren’t really thinking about what they were saying. One of the learners spoke about her perfect day. She said that her perfect day was when she went to the shopping mall with friends, grabbed a bite to eat, and then went home. And that was it. It may have seemed perfect to her, but it sure as hell didn’t seem like a perfect day to me. No punch line? How was that bland explanation of events supposed to relay perfection?
My friend went on to say that she wished her students would ask more questions because in this day and age students are only taught their required curriculum, they appear to memorize it well, and then leave at the end of the day, still uneducated because they bother to ask questions. She said that if the student had just spoken earnestly about her perfect day, it would have changed everything. She could have spoken about what they ate at the mall, what time they’d arrived, whether something weird or funny happened, even if it didn’t seem important, it would have been a less boring speech. Instead she recited answers to the brief exercise. And there was no personality. Anyone in the world could have said what she’d said and that’s not the goal of public speaking; “you need to present an element of yourself that no one else can offer – and it’s those simple details like “we left for the mall at 5pm, or I was running late after a piano lesson” that says something about you without boasting. Even those minor details would have shaped a better speech.”
Our discussion had me thinking, all you have in life is you. You have what you know, what you’ve learned and your unique characteristics – that’s what sets you apart from the rest of the human race. And if that is all you have to distinguish yourself from billions of people in the world, why are we not embracing the details, the stretch marks, the dark times, and the memories? No one else has them, at least not of the same vision. We can’t spend the rest of our lives learning to be certain types of people and have our potential harnessed to the back of our minds. It’s so limiting. It makes us look permanently nervous.
Your personality – that’s all you. The minute you suppress your ideas, feelings, goals and desire, you give yourself a chance to adapt to someone else’s traits, and at the end of the say, you’re no more than a statistic. That’s not why you’re here, that cannot be your goal in life. Aspire, inspire, and live well.
Feature photo/ Pixabay
Amanda Millie
i know exactly what you mean, the magic is in the details. Probably would’ve meant more if the student had even said how she FELT on that day for it to be a perfect day.
The education system is so frustrating these days, I really think more creativity and imagination needs to be introduced and encouraged in the children. x
Robyn
Exactly Amanda. Even at University level I felt that I was learning things pertaining to the curriculum, that wasn’t important for me to know. When I started my first internship at a magazine, I was told to forget everything I was taught at varsity and follow the methods of the magazine. Children should be learning specialized knowledge in the simplest form. In pictures if need be – the important thing is that they understand whatever is taught, and not just memorize it. This will allow them to ask questions and discuss their true feelings.