I’ve had to learn, over time, to run my own race, and stay in my lane. When I stay in my lane and run my race, I go further, last longer, and it’s way better for my mental health! I’ve learned that life is all about ‘being your own kind of beautiful’.
Last spring I stayed in a beautiful country house in Cambridgeshire. The garden was beautifully landscaped with flowers and trees, and within the garden lived a peacock or two. This peacock was stunningly beautiful, and proudly showed off his tail feathers to us on more than one occasion throughout the course of the weekend.
One thing I was unaware of though was the song of the peacock. Have you ever heard a peacock sing? Terrible….! After you’ve read this, go to YouTube and type in ‘peacock sound’ and you’ll be horrified. This reminded me of Aesop’s tale about the peacock and the nightingale.
The peacock was complaining to his other bird friends exclaiming ‘Why can’t I sing like the nightingale? The nightingale’s sound is so beautiful and so perfect!’ His friends were bemused by this, saying ‘You are the strongest, most beautiful, bird, and yet you’re complaining about your voice? The nightingale doesn’t have your strength or your beauty, but does sing so beautifully.’
How often are we like the peacock? We don’t recognise the strengths and the unique qualities that we possess because we’re always looking at other people’s strengths.
Today, why don’t you think about what your strengths are? Are you good with people? Are you a high achiever? Are you stunningly beautiful? Do you have a strategic brain? Do you have a great sense of humour? It’s good practice to celebrate other people for their strengths through encouragement and work on strengthening yours.
Be your own kind of beautiful, because you’re worthy.
