Avoid the flocks, be an Eagle.

We must never be afraid to be a sign of contradiction for the world.”

 ~Mother Theresa

I’ve felt like I was different ever since I was in elementary school...

When my personality started to settle and I came to realize I didn’t look, think, feel, learn, or act like my peers. Looking back, I don’t think I was all that different, but I began to believe I was. Moving every few years just meant few people got to know me that well. I was often the ‘new kid’, and that made me different. I experienced a lot of bullying, and in my younger years, I responded with my fists. 

So yeah, this Caucasian blue-eyed blonde understands being treated differently because of who I was.

In high school, I wanted to have friends and be a part of something; I wanted to feel like I wasn’t a freak. I tried hard to fit in, but trying to be something I wasn’t became emotionally draining. I was just different, and I had to accept that. I didn’t get invited to a lot of parties, and I didn’t go to many of the date dances. I was a big, brazen and opinionated woman. Not a lot of men can handle that.

My High School counselor could see this and told me: “Ducks fly in flocks and Eagles fly alone.”

He was right. And even after I left High School and got married at an early age, I continued to push the boundaries of every group I became a part of. I loathed being looked upon as a part of the ‘flock’. I still do.

That’s why it still pains me so much to see people attempting to make us all into groups again.

It tears us apart more than it brings us together when we lose our ability to see differences. Yes, it may be easier to walk by a group of people who look alike and make a decision about who they are. And as you walk by, they are more than likely doing that to you because of your inability to morph into their presence.

But this eagle still likes throwing a wrench into their expectations.

The flock wants you to be what is best for them, not what is best for you. The more they attempt to categorize me, the harder I push to show how I’m different. The more I am told about how their differences are more important than any others, the more I point out how this makes them a flock.

Be eagles. Fly above the fray.

Contradict the trends. 

Cheers.