Different = Bad?

I noticed this from my new job - contract teacher at MOE... that most people tend to be afraid of change.. Or rather... they tend to view peculiar things in a bad light... Not because they are rigid or mean... It's just that they are alarmed and taken aback by things they do not know... They simply do not know how to handle it.. And thus.. for most of them...

Different = Bad

Thus, they either start panicking.. or they resort to all means and ways to get rid of the new thing...

Picture this... A man tends to a small patch of grass for 10 years.. He weeds and mows the grass diligently... hoping that one day, a stray seed might find its way onto his grass patch and blossom into a beautiful flower... One day, he saw a small weedlike flower... He was afraid and he did not know what to do... Because he has never seen it before.. and yet... it was so beautiful he felt that it was such a waste to get rid of it.. However, he is similarly afraid that it might just be a weed that might take over the grass patch if action is not taken immediately... Thus, he just stands there and stresses over it for hours....

What this man does not know is that his dream was just on the verge of materialising... and it all depends on how he deals with this new and peculiar flower... The easy path would be simply to walk away and let nature take its course... but he chooses to ruminate and stress over this little flower...

Many of us are like that... When God blesses us with some things or some people.. they might not look or appear to be like what we have expected them to be... But in these people lie the greatest treasure God has in store for you... Do not dismiss them simply because they are different... For all you know, you might be killing the very blessing you've been praying for for years...

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The solution?

We must always move ourselves out of our comfort zones and expose ourselves to things that are different... In fact, try experimenting new things every now and then... Pick up a new sport... Get a new pet.... Dress differently.. You are bound to meet NEW people... and you eventually learn that peculiar people are not bad... they are just different.. With sufficient patience and genuine concern, anyone can be a good friend, collegue and buddy...

Being different might not necessarily be bad... especially in a world so ridden with misconstrued religion and other vices... Sometimes, if not most of the times, being different means that you are the only one who is right...

God never asked us to be exact photocopies of each other.. Be brave and original... And have enough faith to believe that people will love you for who you really are... even if you are different from them...