Exactly Alike

 It’s a paradox - each of us is entirely unique yet exactly alike. I often hear the advice to listen for the similarities, while forgetting the differences, and it’s truth is healing. That desire to be ‘different from’ will keep me from being able to learn from others. The need to be set apart must be channelled into awareness of our sameness.

I am a snowflake! I am uniquely beautiful and wondrously formed, but so are all the other snowflakes. We all arose from similar conditions, we all have six sides, and we all group together as one. In those times when I have to be reminded, it is vital for my recovery to remember that we’re all here because none of us have the control to reform ourselves into 3- or 8-sided or any other kind of stars, no matter how hard we try. 

When I recognize myself in another, whether due to relatability or because something about them bugs me and I see in that something about myself I dislike, I am invited to use that insight to grow. My desire to be recognized as ‘other than’ is subsumed into identification as simply one of many - a flake among flakes!

We are all beautifully, wondrously made. Many of us forget that fact somewhere along the roads of our lives. May I always see you in me, and may you always see me in yourself. May we together strive to be more healthy than not, better people than we were yesterday, and always there to help each other up when we slip.


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