You Are The Only And Only You!

One of the beautiful things about people is that each person is one of a kind. You are the one and only you. I am the one and only me. We each have a distinct set of characteristics, quirks, talents and gifts that together make us the unique individual that we are. At the same time, there are certain fundamental desires that we all share. We all want to love and be loved. We all want to express ourselves creatively in some shape or form. We all have an innate desire to grow and expand towards our highest potential. At any given moment, depending on our perspective, we can see the traits that make us unique through the eyes of separation and our tendency will be to suppress them for fear of not belonging or of being different. If on the other hand, we focus on those desires which are common to all of us, we can begin to see our uniqueness as our direct access to connection and to providing those things for ourselves and others.

I’ve been in L.A. for the past week and it’s been an amazing reminder of what’s possible when people truly own themselves and their special blend of qualities, gifts and talents. So many of the successes and talents that we celebrate would not be possible if those individuals didn’t have the audacity to be so unapologetically themselves without any regard for conformity or belonging.

What I’ve also been very present to is the fact that when someone is completely authentic in being and expressing who they are, those around them can’t help but do the same. I was hanging out with a friend last night who is a comedian and one of the funniest people I know. Someone meeting him for the first time might say he is awkward and a little peculiar. And the truth is that he is! That’s what makes him so funny along with his willingness to own his uniqueness, to use it and to have fun with it. He oozes comedy with such little effort and the best part is that he makes everyone around him funny, too.

That’s how powerful we are. When we are willing and able to authentically be ourselves, embody our best qualities and to express ourselves freely, we give others permission to do the same. This also means that we can be the source of that which we wish to experience. We can be the love that we seek. We can spark the inspiration that moves us to create. We can lead down the path of expansion that pushes us to our greatest potential. The more we can let go of our inhibitions and fears of being separate, the more we can connect and the more we will see those things which we desire reflected back to us in our environment and in the people around us.

There are so many amazing qualities and they exist within all of us. We are creative, loving, courageous, inspiring, wise, kind, caring, visionary, audacious, peaceful, compassionate, present… The list is endless. Each of us has been blessed with a special ability to embody and express some of these qualities in a way that nobody else can. Our gift back to the Uni-verse and our purpose in life is to use that ability so fully that we ooze that one or two or five special traits so much that they overflow and trickle down to others.

So what would you say is your best or favorite quality? What’s been holding you back from truly owning it and expressing it fully? How can you step into owning that quality and being more you with complete audacity and authenticity?

Much love,

Chris

Written for The Daily Love (July 14th, 2012)