All Growth Looks Different

All growth looks different. For example; Some trees grow fruit that is delicious, delectable, and amazing. And some trees grow flowers that are beautiful, stunning, and also amazing. Some trees will grow roots that go deep down into the soil for ages. Some trees will grow roots that spread out wide, giving them a strong and sturdy base. Some trees will have leaves to help absorb the light from the sun for its nutrients. Others will have needles because conditions are a little different and that’s how they get their sunlight. So just because someone’s growth isn’t the same as yours or yours isn’t the same as someone else’s doesn’t mean that either of you aren’t growing. They are doing it the way they need to survive at that given point in time. So try not to judge someone else’s growth because it doesn’t look the same as yours or your own for not looking like someone else’s because you are all still growing.

I grew up always comparing myself to other people, and overtime it took a toll on my mental health and self esteem. I was bullied for a long time because of my appearance and for just being who I was. So I decided to be someone I wasn't, I stopped talking at school because apparently I talked too much, annoyingly. And I stopped wearing nice clothes because I was 'trying too hard.' It was hard for me to see that there was nothing wrong with me, because everyone around me was judging me for who I was. And one day, I decided to go to church, it was the first time for while, and the pastor was talking Allodoxaphobia, which by the google definition is: If the fear of people's opinions leads you to care too much about what others think of you," and your growth. And since that day I decided I didn't want to keep pretending to be someone I'm not and keep comparing myself to someone I'm not.

Everyone is different, everyone deals with hurt and pain, and even joy and hope, in their own way. If you feel like you aren't living your true life, just stop. Stop comparing yourself to the growth, development, and lifestyle of another. You are amazing, and perfect, and going through life the way you feel is best for you. And that makes you extraordinary, for developing your own way to breathe, your own way to grieve your pain, and also your own way of experiencing joy. You are always going to be young in someone's eyes and old in someone else's, talented to one person and terrible to the next. The world's never going to agree on a definition of what you are so you might as well just ignore it all, and be whatever you want to be for yourself. Because...

You are astonishingly extraordinary.

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Lindsay Anderson

October 10, 2021