Being Special

Everybody likes to feel special. Sadly, many of us grow up believing that we're not special at all. We wish that we could be more attractive or better at sports. We wish we had more money or more beautiful clothes. Like the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, or the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz, we think we're not good enough just as we are. In the film, The Tin Man wishes he had a heart. The Scarecrow wishes that he had a brain, and the Lion wants courage. Eventually, each of them realizes that he already has what he wants.

Nearly all parents want us to be the best we can be. They occasionally attempt to encourage us to do better by comparing us to others. They mean well, but the message we usually get is that we're not good enough. We start to believe that the only way we can be special is by being better than somebody else, but we are frequently disappointed. There will always be somebody out there that is better than we are at something. There are a lot of people around who may not be as intelligent as we are but who are better at sports. Or they may not be as handsome, but they have more money. It is unthinkable for us to be better than everybody else all the time. Like the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion, we all need what we believe will make us better people.

What we don't understand is that often we already have inside us the very things that we look for in life. Our parents often forget to tell us that we are special, that we are good enough just as we are. Perhaps no one told them when they were growing up, or maybe they just forgot. Either way, it's up to us to remind them sometimes that each of us, in our own way, is special. What we are is enough!