You are a unique and beautiful expression of the universe. If we pause to consider the unlikely chain of events behind it all, we know that each of us, just to be breathing on this planet, is a glorious and astonishing creature.
Stars formed in their primordial furnaces, earth coalesced from the elements, life flourished, humans began walking about, all leading to the creation of you, a distinct collection of qualities with your identity stamped in gold. Your DNA, experiences, memories, regrets, personality, strengths and weaknesses, vices and virtues, traumas and triumphs, all bundled into this singular being that has not been seen before in all of human history and will never appear again, even after the burning of a thousand suns.
When we respond to the spiritual impulse to connect with the sacred, we also follow an urge to return to ourselves. The real, authentic you, the you that is fully you, is the only one who can answer the call. You have gifts to give that are unique. No one else can offer the same range of responses to life, and if you don’t express them, they will be gone forever. And yet, we often forget or dismiss this brilliant inheritance, as if our uniqueness had no value and could be casually tossed away.
At the level of our thinking mind, all of this can seem remote. Luckily, we are much more than just our thinking minds. We’ve all had moments when we see past ordinary reality. A window in our perception flies open, a fresh breeze brushes against us, and the familiar becomes radiant. In those moments, we understand a dimension of the cosmos that baffles the thinking mind, and the inherent beauty of our uniqueness makes perfect sense. When we touch the center of our soul, we know we are both a recipient and a fountain of goodness.
It’s not that we romanticize our lives. We acknowledge our flaws, warts, and history of past crimes. But we see them as the necessary steps we took on a path that is evolving, constantly unfolding the blossoms of our inherent beauty and goodness. We are growing our consciousness, and because all consciousness is connected, our individual growth expands the universe. All of it is needed: the crimson sunsets, the raging floods, the acts of cruelty, the hand of mercy, the greed, the generosity, the joys and wounds and deaths and sacrifice, all the height and depth of human life – the advance of consciousness makes use of it all.
This realization carries relief. I can stop the misguided effort of perfecting myself and instead relax into the slow process of accepting myself. For most of us, self-acceptance is a tall order because we’ve been trained for years on the false premise that there is something wrong with us, that only when we have removed our flaws will we be worthy of love. This is a truly warped and self-crippling belief.
And if our missteps along the footpath of evolution were necessary lessons, so were those of every person we’ve met along the way, whether they helped us or caused us injury. When we feel the commonality of our human struggling, it’s easier to extend forgiveness to ourselves and to others, and a natural desire to serve the greater good springs up within us.
It’s confusing, then, that so much of our daily activity pulls us away from contact with our authentic selves, delaying the arrival of forgiveness, self-acceptance, and universal love. We cling to our busyness as if our constant motion might keep us from something dangerous (loneliness, vulnerability, loss of control, who knows?). It takes courage to stop being the you the world has convinced you to be, the one you’ve constructed as a shield, and empty into your true, unique, beautiful self.
Perhaps the most important thing we can do to inch the world along toward the future we hope for is to celebrate our uniqueness. The gifts you were given in this one human life are an expression of grace at its most fundamental, bestowed and unearned. When you give your gifts back to the world, you are fulfilling an ancient promise.
Try this for the next week: pick one strength of character you are proud of, and express it publicly and with conscious intention. Don’t worry if your gift is peculiar, silly, or quirky; all the better to display your unique signature.
If you’d like insight into what your gifts are, there are many excellent tools available. One I like is the Character Strengths Survey. It measures 24 inherent traits, such as honesty, leadership, forgiveness, creativity, perseverance, hope, humor, and others. It takes ten minutes and it’s free.
Photo by Getty Images on Unsplash
Another very helpful post! Thank you again!
Thanks Susan, it’s always good to hear comments. In this article, I was trying to both remind and nudge. Remind, in that it is easy to forget that our uniqueness is a strength; and nudge, in that I want to encourage people to let their beauty shine.
I am so glad this was helpful. Have a good (unique?) day.
Steve, my experience is that devoting time to identifying one’s character strengths can enable you to find more joy, meaning, and purpose in your life.
Yes, that is my experience as well. I think it is a circle that expands, as my joy and purpose magnify, it also happens for those around me. I am surprised at the times I shrink back from my own beauty. Perhaps that’s why I write about it.