Different is Beautiful

Different is Beautiful

Imagine a world where there is only one type of flower, one type of animal, one type of bird, one type of tree and one type of human being. Different is beautiful, so laugh when you can, apologize when you should and let go of what you cannot change.

Dare to be different because different is beautiful.

Besides making the world a beautiful and interesting place to live, there is another important lesson contained in the diversity that Nature contains.

The lesson is that of acceptance and the appreciation of diversity. Being different does not make you an outsider, it makes you unique and makes you stand out while looking into an unchanged world. Being different is beautiful.

Domination vs. Acceptance

In today’s world, diversity in terms of race, gender and nationality is accepted and promoted in all progressive societies. But it is also important to promote diversity in the way people think.

Human beings typically want everything and everyone to be the way they want them to be or rather, the way they are comfortable with them being.

We strive towards this end relentlessly, especially in our close relationships and very often end up achieving the exact opposite of what we set out to achieve. In trying to mold another person to our wishes, we drive the person away from us and create hostility and disrespect in the relationship. Not a great recipe for happy relationships, is it?

Handling Differences Effectively

In arguments, people often take the position that they are right while the other is wrong. Any discussion people may attempt to sort out such arguments become fruitless when undertaken with such a mindset. It is important to understand that everyone, no matter what they did or do, do what they consider right.

What they do or did may not be right according to you, but it was right according to them and that is why they did it in the first place.

When we accept this, there is respect for the other person while in the former case, there was no respect and this is why the other person could not get himself to agree to anything thereby making the discussion fruitless and unconstructive.

The next time you find yourself trying to control another person to think, act or become like you, remind yourself that the other person is not the same as you and that it is alright for them to be different. This small bit of self-counseling will go a long way in removing negativity from your mind and in bringing peace to all your relationships.

How Intolerance to Differences Ruins Relationships

Sunita was a wonderful wife, cook and homemaker. Her disciplined approach towards all aspects of life made her develop a perfection-oriented approach to everything.

When she became a mother, she brought up her son, Suraj, also in a strict and disciplined manner. Her husband was, however, very different from her in his parenting approach and this resulted in confusing messages going into the child.

Being a strict disciplinarian, Sunita scolded her son whenever he acted differently than she wished him to. She could not accept that he was a separate individual who had a right to his own thoughts and opinions and sought to dominate him. Such an approach ruined her relationship with her son over a longer period of time.

Conclusion – Different is Beautiful

The world is beautiful because of diversity and differences yet, we all try to make others, especially the people in our lives, exactly like ourselves. We convince, criticize and control others to make them think and do what we consider right.

A shift in your attitude towards differences from intolerance to appreciation changes all these attempts and makes us a lot more peaceful within. Accept differences and become tolerant towards them and you will see the beauty in the world. We would then truly live by the mantra ‘Live and Let Live’ because being different is beautiful.

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About the Author

Richa is a writer and a life skills coach with seven years of work experience in training corporate professionals. She has trained employees in Soft skills, Sales and Business English.

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