Never change to be accepted by others. Stay weird.

Never change to be accepted by others. Stay weird.

What it the lifetime benefit of conformity?

As a conformist you are more likely to “fit in.” In that choice you will feel like you belong. You will be more likely accepted by others. You will become part of the overall “normal” landscape. Your world will have homogeny. Your ability to connect and associate with everyone will increase. Your path to success (of a sort) is more likely secured.

It sounds like a proper path to take. 

And for most, it is unquestionably the road most traveled. 

But what if there is a different voice inside your mind that is continually looking to break out and be heard? What if that voice continuously speaks to you with an urgency that is so incessant that you are unable to turn it off?

What if you don’t want to turn it off at all?

Will life become more problematic? Perhaps. Will you feel less homogenous around others? Probably. Will you be as readily accepted by others as the next person? Unlikely.

Then why on earth would anyone wish to pursue a path of uncertainty? Why take the risk of breaking out of the norm and becoming who you are destined to become?

Ask da Vinci, Picasso, Elton John, Prince, David Bowie, Steve Jobs, Tesla, Steve Martin, Dali, Frida, Edison and thousands of others who have opted to veer right off the path, and head straight into “weird.”

Did they wish to stand apart from others? Some of them did. Others were more focused on something deep inside that had to be answered. Were they just marching to the beat of a different drummer? To be certain. 

So what causes one person to take that chance while another is more willing to conform?

I will postulate that the core common denominator of all of them is courage. Somewhere, early on in their lives, they were exposed to some flavor of courage, and the lesson took hold and did not let go. In that lesson, they found the spark of inspiration required to accelerate beyond that which was common and to take the path less traveled. They summoned something deep within and harnessed it to take them to the top of the proverbial mountain. 

Acceptance by others is a wonderful feeling. It gives us comfort and security. It allows us to travel through life in a comfort zone. But if you are one of those that have accelerated into a journey that is nonconformist, and you are risking your acceptance by others in favor of pursuing that which only you can see, stand tall and proud in your journey. It may be more lonely than you would have hoped for. It may be fraught with unseen perils that you might have avoided. But if you are truly focused on that which matters most to you, the rest will fall into place. And perhaps, if you are determined to manifest this unseen vision so that others may share it too, you will find an even greater acceptance than you might have ever achieved by conforming in the first place.

Happy Friday!

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