Different can be good.

I remember when I first began school – the teacher asked if anyone knew the alphabet, and up went my hand. When I was asked to give it a go .. I recited it backwards – because my father had taught it to me that way – a mystery as to why and I was ridiculed by the teacher as a result. I remember not feeling all that embarrassed actually – and so began my defiance of all things authoritarian. It wasn’t long before I had a ribbon tied in my hair (by a teacher) for playing on the girls swings in the playground – yikes! So in my youth – and I imagine it was this way for many of my readers – looking at things differently than most, or acting a little differently, caused me some amount of difficulty. Now though, I understand the following truth – if you want to achieve excellence in life you need to carve your own path – you need to think a little differently, you need to behave a little differently, you need to have a different attitude, you need to prepare differently, plan differently, etc. If you are happy and content to settle for average, then being different may not be the best option. But if you want something else … something other … something exciting … a little difference can make all the difference. JBW