Monday, June 22, 2009

¿Why Are you Special? Me Is Not an Answer


I was chatting with a colleague and she was intrigued by my question that I had posed to her as to why she was special. She was so perturbed by it that she went on to post that very question online as to what about friends in her online community made them special.

In a later conversation, she said “Sandra most of them replied because I am me. Do you get that a lot, she asked.” I laughed because that is a standard response when we are uncomfortable with our own introspection. It is often difficult for most of us to look inward and articulate an answer.

Many of us have been taught that if we talk about ourselves in too positive a light, we are being braggadocios. We are advised to be modest and to be humble. The worst part is we are told not to say anything but to let people discover what is special about us on their own.

Honestly if you cannot proudly cry out to the world why you are special, no one else will be able to either. An ineffectual answer is because I am me. A dazzlingly response is I am special because and shout from the rooftops how special you really are.

Stay tuned as I collect answers and look for it in my upcoming book, "Why Are You Special". So, I have asked it before and I ask it again…

¿Why Are You Special?

8 comments:

Liara Covert said...

Another view is that everyone and everything is equal. The idea of being special suggests hierarchies of better or worse, which nurtures superiority, inferiority, ego and characteristics such as inadequacy. If you take the view that everyone is made from the same energy, then distinguising features seem to fade. You then begin to recognize and recall love is all you are.

Sandra said...

Liara,
I hear you. All points of view are respected. In this context, however, ego is not a bad thing. When we are able to let our light shine, it reflects positive energy and helps others see how special they are. Peace :-)

Foundation Repair Pasadena, TX said...

Great post! So true!

<3 Lindsay

Sandra said...

Thank You, Lindsay :-)!

Robin Easton said...

Wow what a cool post and comments. I understand what both you and Liara are saying, as I too do not believe hierarchies exist in the natural oder of things and are only human created in the ego.

Okay, THAT SAID, lol!, I totally agree that for people to claim why they feel they are special is very important as many people do NOT yet know (as Liara wisely said) that we are all Love. So starting to express what makes us special (as you wisely said) can move us out of an old mindset of it NOT being okay to claim who we are, which is Love.

People can put religious icons above themselves and believe that it is blasphemous to think that they, a mere mortal, are Love, let alone special.

So I think this can be a very good exercise because it allows people to start claiming the universal love that they ARE. If we all loved ourselves more the world would be an entirely different place. So I think the two go together and are not two separate views or issues.

Also, I think all healthy vibrant bursting life feels special; that is the nature of LOVE. Where we feel so special and alive that we are in love with the entire world. Look at healthy kids, healthy puppies and other unbridled innocent life forces; they feel wonderfully special.

"Special" does not necessarily mean "the only one". It may mean that in the dictionary: Unique, One of a kind...and so forth. But special to ME is a state of being that does not have to be relational to anything or anyone.

Thank you for inspiring me Sandra...twice today. :)

Robin Easton said...

Hi Sandra, I left a comment here but I've feeling that it may not have gone through. Will wait a bit and see. Hugs, Robin

Sandra said...

Robin,
Wow what insightful comments! By the way you ARE special. LOL. I think your comments are so on point you could do follow-up post on your blog. Peace :-)

Sandra said...

Robin,
Just slow on moderating. Too busy relaxing. LOL