{"id":924,"date":"2012-06-08T09:00:54","date_gmt":"2012-06-08T09:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/happyhaven\/?p=924"},"modified":"2012-06-07T03:18:06","modified_gmt":"2012-06-07T03:18:06","slug":"be-your-own-needle-in-a-haystack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/happyhaven\/2012\/06\/08\/be-your-own-needle-in-a-haystack\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Your Own Needle in a Haystack"},"content":{"rendered":"
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{flickr photo}<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I know that quote’s about how hard it is to find things. But I think it may have dual meanings.<\/p>\n

If you’ve grown up like I have in a community\/family\/school where everyone is a haystack, it must have been hard to be the needle. Who wants to stick out like a sore thumb when everyone else around you are doing the same thing? It can make you feel like a deviant, unworthy, unlovable, the weird one.<\/p>\n

But while it hurts like heck to stand out, it’ll crush your spirit even more to push your true self down.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In The Artist’s Way<\/em> Julia Cameron says:<\/p>\n

“If I allow myself to be bullied and cowed by other people’s urges for me to be more normal or more nice, I sell myself out. They may like me better, feel more comfortable with my more conventional appearance or behavior, but I will hate myself. Hating myself, I may lash out at myself and others.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I fight with allowing my inner weirdo out. It’s so much easier to pretend like nothing bothers me, to act as if I got everything figured out. But how much more genuine and courageous it is to let all the ugly spill out. And how much more truer I will be to myself and kinder and more loving to others.<\/p>\n

How do we fight against conformity and free our individuality?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We do it by saying, “No” when we feel like it.<\/p>\n

By saying, “Yes!” to the things we love.<\/p>\n

By saying, “I can’t do this. But I can do that.”<\/p>\n

By refusing to compromise our values, our comfort, our priorities, out of fear of not being nice, of hurting someone’s feeling, or being rejected.<\/p>\n

Every time you decide to put your own needs first, you take a giant step in the path of self-love. Once you decide to be that needle in a haystack, you will unintentionally give others the freedom to unleash their own uniqueness.<\/p>\n

It won’t be easy to walk in that less traveled path. You will feel alone at times. You will be clouded in self-doubt. But as the years pass by and you grow more comfortable and at ease with yourself, you’ll look back with less regrets.<\/p>\n

To do great things, you can’t just follow the crowd. True courage has always followed the path of those who rose above conformity and decided to stand out.<\/p>\n

What road will you take?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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