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“To be nobody but yourself

in a world which is doing

its best day and night to

make you like everybody else

means to fight the hardest

battle which any

human being can

fight and never

stop fighting.”

American poet E.E. Cummings realistically penned this important message of true individuality. In a vast universe upon which we expect to make a difference without alienating ourselves from the rest of God’s creation, we need to see ourselves as human beings who are unique enough to be marked as constantly growing and alive.

Change plays a vital role in our struggle for individuality, and it is something that all of us cannot do without. However, due to some of our society’s standards, most of us are afraid to give ourselves a chance to embrace it. Everyday, we see somebody known to us succumb in doing the role set by others even if it is not really what he wants to do in the first place. But since it is what his family and friends have done, he eventually gets to do it and spends the rest of his life miserably regretting why he wasn’t able to stand up for his right to be different.

Why are some of us hesitant to do things which most of our peers never do, yet inclined to applaud those who struggled amidst frustrations and humiliation just to be different? Why is it always difficult to take the first step especially when we see that nobody intends to follow us? It always seems that loneliness lurks where the first spark of individuality lights up. 

It may be a long, road out there, but unless we do not take it upon ourselves to express our uniqueness, we will go along the waves of conformity and monotony. We must learn to gamble then and toss the dice of life which shows what it is in us as individuals and what makes us different while still look the same as others. Fear may seem to be an overwhelming cloud which can dampen our spirits, but taking that so-called giant leap towards a total change in us will wipe it out.

Let us begin now. Let us make a difference. Let us show who we really are, inside and out.