In a recent post to his blog, Jack’s Winning Words, Jack used a quote sent to him by one of his readers – “It’s OK to live a life others do not understand.” (Sent by MarO)
Searching for one’s identity or getting comfortable with it, once it becomes apparent, is a rite of passage for all kids growing up. Some never seem to end that search or perhaps just carry it a bit further into adulthood. You may have met someone in their 20’s or even older who tells you that they are still trying to find themselves. At the opposite end of that spectrum are the precocious kids who have made up their minds at an early age about who and what they are and have set about to pursue their dreams and fulfill their destinies. No matter where you are on that journey of self-discovery – It’s OK to be you.
Still others know who they are, but they are not happy with what they see. They may see themselves as “misfits”. They feel like they do not fit in with society in general or that they are somehow singled out because of the difference that they perceive about themselves. Maybe it is their physical appearance or perhaps they just feel awkward
around others. Whatever the reason for their discomfort, many of these people (mostly young people) try to disguise or hide their true self by emulating others and by joining groups of other misfits into which they can blend and disappear. They may alter their appearance or dress in a specific manner to try to fit in with the group that they have chosen. Eventually most see that It’s OK to be you.
What most finally come to grips with, as MarO put it, is that, “It’s OK to live a life others do not understand.” It is in fact those differences than make you an interesting person to know. It is your different perspective on life that give your life its value to others. Eventually it is those differences that will give you satisfaction that you are living the life that was meant for you. Kermit the Frog from Sesame Street put it well 
in his song, “It’s not easy being green.” Just as Kermit reached the conclusion that being green wasn’t so bad after all, you will eventually see that being you isn’t that bad either. It’s OK to be you.
I’ve written here before about being the best you that you can be and that advice is still valid. Before you can focus upon being the best you that you can be, you must first accept that It’s OK to be you. If it’s any comfort, just know that everyone before you and everyone around you went through, or are going through, the same struggle to find and accept themselves. Your challenge isn’t really that others not understanding you, it’s about you not understanding and accepting yourself. Once you can get to the point where you say to yourself, this is who I am and I accept that; then you can move on making the best life possible for yourself. You will be surprised how 
many people value knowing you for being who you are – for your different outlook on life and your opinions on things. Eventually, you will find that soul mate who has been looking for someone exactly like you and maybe then you will finally accept and understand that It’s OK to be you.
Have a great and unique life and don’t worry – It’s OK to live a life others do not understand.
Posted by Norm Werner 
you start out on your day. It may help put a smile on your face and that will start the process of making the world a happier place.
needs to be championed by a leader who can inspire people to rally around the cause of a better America for all. Right now I don’t see that leader within the current political environment; he he/she is out there somewhere.
will not go away, but both extreme would be marginalized into the disgruntled little camps that they deserve to be, if there was a strong alternative in the middle providing the leadership needed to get things done for America. I suspect that a good number of politicians, who now swallow their pride and compromise their own values in order to cow tow to the litmus tests of their parties, would break ranks and switch a strong and sensible middle party.
questions inward and start directing your search for help in the only direction that always offers comfort and help – towards God. In times of crisis, it’s time to pray to God for help. While you could ask God to fix this for you; but, what you really need to do is trust God and ask Him instead for His help to get through whatever it is that He has put on your plate. I like a quote from Mother Teresa on this –
Harris Fellow Award is the Rotary honor for service to the community is pursuit of the goal of making the world a better place for all. The Rotary has that goal and has done great things both locally and internationally.
make the part of the world that they can reach a better place to live for all. Often their efforts go unnoticed, because they work in the background on projects that may not garner much attention in the media; however, it is through those efforts that things get done, that needed to get done. Playgrounds are built, parks are cleaned up, homes are rehabilitated, meals are delivered to shut-ins and so much more.
those who reach out to help and counsel and not just to condemn. To the widows who lost a husband in war or in service to the community, the heroes are those who offered support and comfort and helped then find a way through their grief and the strength to go on.
things seems to be the only thing that the politicians can actually accomplish. The two sides of our political system have become so polarized that here is no room for getting together to work out a compromise, so all that is left is calling news conferences and slinging accusations and mud at the other side.
cannot be accomplished by hurling sound-bites at each other from behind the hardened barriers of ignorance, mistrust, hate, prejudice and bigotry. There must be a willingness on both sides to drop the shields and seek common ground by understanding the motivation for differing views. I hope that out of that understanding will come peace, compromise and actions to get things done. One can only hope.
us to suspend disbelief for that brief amount of time and allow ourselves to believe in the premise of the movie. The movie becomes “real” to us, if only for a few hours. Faith is somewhat the same. You must be able to suspend your disbelief (most often rooted in reason and logic) and allow yourself to believe in something that is beyond human logic and reason. In the case of faith that belief lasts and takes on a meaning and impact in our lives that changes our lives forever.
their own making. Being an analytical-type person, I will continue to try to reason things out in life; but, also being a believer, I will put my trust in God when it comes to those things that defy reason, for that is where God lives – just beyond the edge of reason in a place called faith.
cynicism and accepting God into our hearts. The doorway to that belief and unconditional love He has offered to us is in the form of His Son Jesus. If we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then we believe in God and He will accept us and forgive us all of our sins.
feel like that – it is a step (some might use the term leap) of faith.
were developed through a process of trial and error, whether it be in diagnosing aliments or performing surgery. Even the development of our modern wonder drugs is mostly a matter of trial and error; although the newest gene therapies are based more in a scientific understanding of how our genes work and what they do in the body. Of course the current opioid epidemic shows how out-of-hand modern medicine can get with it’s prescription drug approach.
I’m certainly not advocating for the position of refusing modern medical help and putting all of our hope in either alternative approaches or even in faith. Misguided people who try to use faith as a reason and defense for not vaccinating their children or giving them the benefit of modern treatments and drugs, where needed, are just wrong and a danger to themselves and society. It is unfortunate that too many get away with that approach until it is too late.
It hit me, when I saw those two quotes in juxtaposition in my mail in-box that they really go together as a way to look at the end time of life. After all, death seems to be the final wall that we all face.
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