We seek perfection. We strive to be perfect. We look at our flaws as failures. But here’s the thing. Perfect is boring. Perfect has no character. Perfect has no patina of age and use and love. Perfect is the fine China that sits on grandmas shelf that never gets touched. Never gets loved.

You are not loved in spite of what sets you apart. You are not tolerated because of what makes you unique what makes you you. You are loved because of it. You are no less for what makes you you; indeed, it is that what makes you different from everyone else that makes you, you. That makes you stand out.

That is not a bad thing, though it might have been treated as such by others. Maybe you were made fun of because of your freckles or your curly hair or the fact that you were taller/shorter than anyone else in your class.

Here’s the thing. They were wrong. The things that make you unique? Is the very reason why I want to celebrate you.

So let’s celebrate that which makes you different. That which makes you you.