Monday, September 10, 2012

Leaving a Legacy of Unusual

Unusual:  noticeably different from what is generally found or experienced; being out of the ordinary

        Synonyms: curious, extraordinary, funny, odd, peculiar, rare, singular, uncommon, unique, exceptional, irregular, notable, noticeable, particular, remarkable
        Antonyms: common, ordinary, plain, usual, expected, predictable, normal, regular, typical, familiar, ordinary, everyday

For some reason unknown to me, the comment my 8th grade U.S. History teacher wrote in my year book came to mind this morning. Here is the comment he wrote to me, 

"You have a great character (a little unusual) and you will go far in life." 

For a long time, the part of the comment in parentheses had somewhat irritated me. And it hurt a little bit. Ya know. I mean 'unusual'. Being 'unusual' never seemed like a good thing. At least, not to a kid that was going into high school after that summer ended. That place of the popular kids and everyone else. To me, it read that I was the ugly duckling or the black sheep or something close to those characters. So, irritated and hurt and offended, I put it out of my mind.

Then this morning, I thought about that comment and went looking for it. I read it again. 

"You have a great character (a little unusual) and you will go far in life." 

Now, as a parent with a kid off on his first full day of kindergarten, I am pondering this comment. I think about all of it now, not just the part in the parentheses. And as I think about all of it, including that part, it makes me smile. I appreciate it now. It is something that I realize now is a good thing and something that I have continued to be. I see it in me now as a strength and I want to embrace it; to continue to mold that part of my character into something good, something to leave to my kids as a legacy. 

What would a legacy of unusual look like? Well, just look at those synonyms. Funny. Curious. Remarkable. Rare. Exceptional. Notable. Those are terms I can get behind and encourage my kids to strive for in their lives. Is being like all those that are 'popular', all those in the media, like all those images that are pushed on us by marketers and big corporations, all the influences of our modern culture and society; is being like all that unusual? I say, no. I want for myself and for my kids a great character of the unusual sort. Not of the common or expected or familiar.

So just imagine what leaving a legacy of unusual could do... 

1 comment:

  1. Unusual is a good thing! It means you follow your own desire and not what the world is throwing at you. Of course when we are young we want to be like "everyone else". This is why getting older and wiser is so much better because you can look at that comment know objectively.
    I don't want you to be any different!

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