When I realized I’d been making untypical decisions my entire life since I was just a kid, I started to put more effort into not comparing myself with the majority of people around the same age as me, and accepting that my journey was going to be harder than what I thought it could be. But I confess that sometimes I still get lost and feel like I don’t know what I am doing.
You see, I take things very seriously in a literal way sometimes, so when my mom said “You’re not everyone” I might have done the same by making a different decision from what was expected of the people in the context where I came from. (perhaps the English mommy’s don’t say that all the time, but this is a general mom phrase in Brazil.)
The possibilities
I was never typical or practical, I always wanted big, different, and unique. One of the things I used to like the most would be creating my own toys. Once my mom bought a new fridge and of course, it came in a giant box, taller than me at that time, so the little me decided to create something with that. I could see all the possibilities of what that big empty space could become, and it was so clear to me. I turned it into a car, but to others, it probably didn’t look like a car at all. Everyone who looked at it was confused about what it was, but for me, it made total sense.
I always searched for different possibilities and the more I discovered the more I wanted to try. Why settle on things just because everyone else is doing so? Why not try differently? Why put a limit on my choices just because the level of chances to go right is considered low? These were the questions I used to ask myself.
I chose to do graphic computation while I was at school when everyone around was studying English and administration… I chose a bachelor that only had in one university from my city, and so I had to go to another city to study. And then I decided I wanted to travel after college and do my so dream exchange. I’m blessed to have all these options, even though wasn’t simple, it worked out well and here I am now choosing to be an immigrant.
Not better not worse, just different
Although all of this seems like magic to me now, I sometimes kept myself trying to imagine how my life would be if I had made different decisions and if it would be easier. Well, life itself is complicated and any path we decide to follow is going to have its own difficulties. Perhaps I just feel it would be easier because my challenges right now are the only ones I know, and also for not know many people from where I came from with the same wishes.
But though I feel this way from time to time, and through all the challenges I face, my conclusion is still the same…
I wouldn’t have grown the way I did. I wouldn’t have the adventures I lived. I would probably not be here with the people I’ve found. And these affirmations definitely fit for all of us.
So, with this in mind perhaps we can agree that sometimes is hard when we want things that aren’t “common” to people from our surroundings, but our Brazilian mommies could never be more right and I will do some editing on the phrase now we’re “adults”: We are not like everyone. And it’s alright. Each one of us has a different story to tell, different challenges to face and that’s what makes us unique.
