Who Gon' Check Me Boo!?!

Ever feel different?? Kind of like....you're not like everybody else?

It's a weird feeling to realize that you are the only one who sees something else besides what everybody else sees or hears something else besides what everyone else hears or believes something that no one else believes. Trying to verbalize the difference is frustrating because you can talk until you are blue in the face and if whoever you are trying to share your vision or dream with doesn't get it...they just don't get it!!! Nobody wants to agree to disagree, they want you to agree with them. *Sad Face*

A lot of times, I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb. ...Like I'm going left when everyone else is going right. And by no means do I mind being different. But what bothers me is when the people who are going right, clearly see me going left and absolutely insist on trying to persuade me to go right with them.

Our whole society is based on the majority. And it makes people scared to stand alone. They don't want to stand out or bring attention to themselves for fear of not being liked by the "majority." So they punk out...they sell out...they sit in silence…or they go along with the "crowd." They say "everybody wants to belong" ...but I guess. And those who do dare to be different are the ones who seem to look "crazy."

In a world where cliques still exist and cliches are still in full effect...DIFFERENT=CRAZY. But I think that people choose to call the different ones crazy because they don't understand them. And because they don't understand them...they can't check them. (When I say "check" I mean change, persuade, manipulate, coerce, break down, phase, touch, etc.)

Think about all the greats who were different and labeled "crazy" at first but then "geniuses" later. They weren't crazy, the world was just too slow for them.

Artists like Andre 3000 for example. So many people called him crazy/different/weird for so long. Then after he dropped the album "The Love Below" he was all of sudden a “musical genius.” He was a musical genius from birth, the world just didn’t know it yet. Only he saw his vision and he kept doing him. They didn't understand at first but he kept at it and eventually the world caught up with him. Now, nobody can check him.

Or think about Maxwell, an artist who had limited success for years. But he kept doing him. He did not have the favor of the masses. But he kept going left in a business where record labels and music execs pushed everybody to go right. He did not cave, give in, or sell out. The perseverance and steadfastness paid off because now he is selling out 20,000+ seated arenas all over the country. And, nobody can check him.

I know we all may question ourselves at times because there is something about every last one of us that is distinctly different and unique. Your uniqueness is your asset not your flaw. My voice is different, my look is different, I act different, I think different, I dress different. I am different! Who cares what they say? I don’t...and call me crazy if you want...I just think that the world hasn’t quite caught up with me yet....poor things. :-)

...Reminds me of the movie Happy Feet. The difference in that one penguin is the difference that ending up saving the whole species. So I dare myself be different and I step out on faith. We all should. You never know...that one little difference in you from the next man may be the difference that saves a life, a family, and school, and community, or even a whole nation. And then nobody will be able to check you. You will know your purpose and you will then appreciate your differences and trust me...they will too. :-)