‘True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are.
It requires you to be who you are.’ Brené Brown
One of my nieces had recently been to Thailand and came back with T-Shirts as part of her Christmas gift for her family. Now it’s not unusual to buy a souvenir T-Shirt as a gift, but what caught my attention was what was written on the T-Shirts, SAME, SAME BUT DIFFERENT.
In Thailand, the T-Shirts are a parody of what you hear when you shop at the market stalls. Thailand is notorious for replicas of original designer garments and accessories. If you ask the stallholder whether the merchandise is a designer original they will answer, ‘SAME, SAME BUT DIFFERENT’.
As we were enjoying Christmas lunch with family members adorned in the new T-Shirts I realised that SAME, SAME BUT DIFFERENT doesn’t just describe clothes and accessories, it also describes a tension about ourselves that we all experience. You want to be the same as others and be loved and accepted, but you are also different. This is a great thing as you will read later in the blog. However, it is easy to perceive being different or unique as something very negative and this can create insecurity.
Insecurity about your uniqueness can make it difficult to express who you truly are, even make you want to hide it. Have you ever felt that? You are definitely not alone. Insecurity can masquerade in various ways.
- Have you ever experienced the fear of being rejected, ridiculed and being socially isolated?
- Maybe you’ve found yourself wanting to be a replica of someone else, perhaps look like them, or maybe even have their personality or talents
- Then there is the burning question of ‘What would others think about you if you revealed your uniqueness and they saw you as different?’
- Perhaps you feel shame and just want to hide and blend in with the crowd so you aren’t noticed.
- Have you ever compared yourself to others on Social Media and felt inferior?
- Do you find yourself being a people pleaser and being or doing what others want rather than what you believe is right for you?
So how do you deal with this insecurity? Understanding your uniqueness and that you are an exclusive designer original is the first step.
You are not meant to be the same as everyone else, you are unique, and there will never be another you. God deliberately designed you and created you down to the finest detail to be unique. He first started with a blueprint or design that He used to create you. In Jeremiah 1:5a God says, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;’
Even before you were conceived God had a vision of who you would be and what you would be like. Then when you were formed in your mother’s womb God created His vision of you. Psalm 139:13 says; ‘For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.’
David who wrote the Psalm describes how you are created uniquely using the word ‘covered.’ The Hebrew word for ‘covered’ is ‘cakak’ and it means to weave together. It is a great description of what actually happens as you are being formed in the womb. Did you know that as you develop and your cells divide there is an exchange or ‘weaving’ of some of your chromosome segments? The weaving of your chromosomes produces a new genetic combination and an entirely unique you. Geneticists call this weaving ‘crossing over’ or ‘recombination’. It explains why brothers and sisters of the same parents are always unique. If you are an ‘identical’ twin then yes this includes you too. Scientists are now finding there are very minor differences in identical twins chromosomes which can account for variations in their health history, personality and even choices of work. (You can read about it here.) I love it when science confirms the Word of God.
You are a unique masterpiece of creative genetic design that will never be repeated. There is no one else like you and there never will be. You are not an accident and you’re definitely not a replica of someone else.
You are a unique masterpiece of creative genetic design that will never be repeated. There is no one else like you and there never will be. You are not an accident and you’re definitely not a replica of someone else. Share on X
Make your life an expression of your uniqueness and live from that. Focus on being the very best version of who you are created to be. God didn’t design you to be the same as anybody else so don’t try to replicate others. While you’re focusing on being like someone else you can’t be who you’re designed to be, yourself. If you want to truly be loved and accepted it will only happen if you are loved and accepted for who you uniquely are, not who you think others want you to be.
Let me finish by asking you a question;
How has understanding the uniqueness of your creation impacted the way you think and feel about yourself?
Take some time to think about this. Grab your journal or piece of paper and pen and note down your thoughts.
If you feel comfortable please share any of your new understanding through the contact form on the website. I would love to hear from you. Please also feel free to share any questions you have, or comments you want
to make, about the blog.
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To your uniqueness,
Robyn.