Everyday, people become less confident confident in themselves. They wish they had better legs, better arms, higher IQ, prettier faces, better charisma, longer hair, more lively persona, and the list goes on and on. I don't think it can ever be exhausted because daily we see people who are trying so hard to metamorphose into someone else.
Just yesterday, I read a story of a particular lady in the UK - Claire Leeson, 25 (left)- who has spent over N5 million, a whooping £18, 000 on a full body makeover to be like , guess who? Kim Kardashian. According to the story, Claire is a huge fan of Kim and is obsessed with her - her boobs, butt, fashion style, lips, nose, just everything there is to Kim K. Claire has had a boob job (£5,000), teeth whitening (£2,500), hair extensions (£4,500), nails (£500), bum padding (£350), make-up (£1,000) and has bought tons of shoes and clothes in her attempt to become Kim Kardashian. To think that her expenses so far is telling negatively on her finances, Claire still has plans to go for a butt job in order to complete her makeover.
I wonder what Claire would become if she valued herself enough to be confident in her own skin and bask in the euphoria of her individuality. If Claire had a healthy sense of self-respect and self-worth, she would have invested that huge amount of money in becoming a better and more dignified version of herself. At 25, she has the whole world in front of her. What better time to chart a glorious future for herself than now. She's young, energetic, flexible, full of life and has the opportunity to be a world-class version of Claire Leeson. Instead, she chooses to be a second hand version of someone who is living her life and making a fortune by simply embracing her individuality.
Claire is just one out of thousands of young people who have crazy obsessions with their favourite celebrity. They want to be like their most cherished artist, or actress, or producer, worse still P*** star. I wonder, why go through so much pain, and struggle to be someone else when you are perfect the way you are? Why waste a fortune trying to imitate someone when you can channel those same resources into becoming a better you?
If only people understood and had a deep knowledge of their worth, the immense possibilites and potentials inherent in them, they would wake up every morning kissing themselves. Judy Garland once said "Always be a first rate version of yourself and not a second rate version of someone else.” Oscar Wilde corroborated this whe n he said “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
Let me share a secret with you; on this planet of over 7 billion people and counting *yes, because as I write, someone somewhere has added to the population* you are the only one of your kind. There is not one person who is exactly like you. Your set of skills, talents, gifts, goals, personality, physical characteristics, everything that makes you who you are is unique to YOU. Isn't that amazing? I always tell people that I am the best of my kind. I always boast in the knowledge that I am the only one on this planet who can be ME. I admire people, their achievements and all, but I have never wished to be someone else. I always want to be the best ME there ever is and will ever be.
That is healthy self worth. I do not claim to be perfect, rather I glory in my individuality, confident that as the years go by, I am metamorphosing into who I am created to be. I rejoice whenever I think of my future because I know deep within me lies a well of potentials and possibilities, inventions and innovations, ideas and dreams that are yet to be discovered, yet to be explored, yet to be utilized.
I have discovered that the most successful people in the world today, who have made a mark in different fields and industries, from Barack Obama, Late Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates to Beyonce, Kelly Rowland and Jay Z, have worked hard at developing their unique talents and gifts. They didnt want to be someone else. They found their passion. Within their passion, they discovered their purpose. In that purpose, they found the unique skills and talents available to them to fulfil that purpose and they worked very hard to develop those skills. The result? They became world-class versions of themselves. Their individuality made them who they are today. Their names are not just mere names but brands. They earn millions of dollars just to endorse a product with their signature or face.
There is something unique about you. Even though you are a twin, doctors might say you are identical, but trust me, if you take a deeper and closer look at your sibling, you will realize that you are not 100% identical. There is always a difference, no matter how small. It could be the shape of your nose, or the inner corner of your eye, or the lines on your eye lids, or the thickness of your brow, or the way you twitch your ears, or your ambitions and goals, whatever it is. There is always something.
I have learnt that the best way to be happy in life is to stop comparing yourself with someone else. Your greatest competitor in life should be yourself. Everyone has a purpose in life that is uniquely theirs. Don't try
to copy someone else who appears to be getting ahead - your path will
be much more valuable if you stay true to yourself.
So get on, embrace yourself, love yourself because no one will do it better than you. If you are having problems identifying who you are, then it is time for you to go on a journey of self discovery and sober reflection. Even better, there are a number of resources available on the internet to help you as you chart your path into discovering the depth of your persona. However, not every psychological test can reveal everything about you. There are some aspects of your self that are deep within the core of your persona and can only be discovered as you pass through various experiences in life.
Are you an introvert? Don't be ashamed. Albert Einstein wasn't much of an extrovert himself yet He developed the general theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics (alongside quantum mechanics). He became famous for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2 (which has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation"). He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect".
Are you a stammerer? you don't need to get beat down or embarrassed. Winston Churchill wasn't much of a marvelous orator yet he is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century, an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. He is the only British Prime Minister to have won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and was the first person to be made an honorary citizen of the United States.
Your best is yet to come so be proud of who you are. Your weaknesses, strengths, failures, successes, goals, skills, gifts are what makes you the best of your kind in the human race. So raise your head high, straighten your shoulders, thrust your chest out, and look with straight eyes straight as you take on the journey to embracing your self
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