This morning I woke up late. Typical for me, on a Saturday morning. The house was very quiet. This was not so typical. I went out to investigate, only to find no one was around. Where were my kids and husband? I went out into the garage, listened and heard voices in the backyard. I opened the door to the backyard, and found everyone sitting in the hot tub together! At 8:45am in the morning! By way of explanation they said, “It’s cold out there, so we got in here!” The offer was made for me to squeeze in and join them, but I declined to get in the hot tub and chose instead to take a hot shower.
In our family, I sometimes feel like the “odd one out”. Have you heard this expression before? I have, but I took the time to look it up and here’s the official definition (according to Google):
“A person or thing differing from all other members of a particular group or set in some way.”
Synonyms include: outsider, exception, oddity, nonconformist, maverick, individualist, misfit, fish out of water, square peg in a round hole
Have you ever felt like the “odd one out”? Growing up, I felt like that all the time. Now I realize part of the reason for that was simply that I was a nonconformist and a (stubborn) individualist. In my family, I was guaranteed to be the one to rock the boat, ask the (many) questions, and in general try to argue my way out of (or into) anything. I was told I would make a great lawyer someday. No joke!
Sometimes in my own family, with my husband and kids, I still feel like the odd one out. I don’t like to get down-and-dirty with the outdoors, (although I appreciate the beauty of it very much), I am NOT a morning person, I don’t laugh easily at every joke or fart, I don’t usually enjoy being teased, I like things neat and tidy, I enjoy being inside while everyone else is robustly running/jumping/yelling/climbing outside… You get the picture.
But it’s okay to be different. And our differences mean I bring something else to the table. Something only I can bring. For example… when necessary I am the car pool mom, the shopping expert, the birthday party planner, the scheduler of all things social, the baker of sweet treats, the interior decorator and organizer, the goofy mom singing opera loudly with all the windows open, the one who offers the best snuggles in the house, and all-around housekeeper extraordinary. I’ll bet you can come up with your own list… One for all the ways you are different and feel like the odd one out. And one for all the wonderful – and maybe a little bit wacky- ways in which you shine. Don’t sell yourself short. You are after all, an amazing woman. And don’t even try to tell me different.
“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”
-Oscar Wilde