Thankful to Be Different

I am thankful that God made me unique. My wife just calls me weird. I can live with that. She still married me, which I am also thankful for! I don’t like crowds, parties, or small talk. I love silence, which is rare in my home. I prefer the rhythm of my feet hitting the pavement to iTunes. I lost my AirPods a while ago, and the playlist on my phone consists of songs transferred from my wife’s phone about a decade ago. My radio quit working again in my old Suburban, which now has about 280,000 miles on it.

When Normal Doesn’t Fit

My least favorite part of the day is trying to find something to wear. I breathe a sigh of relief when I find a shirt that isn’t wrinkly. I rarely receive a nod of approval from my wife on outfit choices.  Today, I’m wearing ankle-high running socks with Lululemon pants that are a bit too short, which is probably a big no-no. My brown belt buckle broke about six months ago, so I’ve been trying to choose outfits where a black one works or it’s safe to leave the shirt untucked. Half of the clothes in my closet are too big because of all the running I’ve done. But I live in fear that if I can’t keep this pace up, I’ll be wearing those baggy pants again eventually.

The Beauty in Blazing Your Own Trail

I don’t like doing what everyone else is doing. I started playing pickleball when no one knew what it was, and everyone made fun of me. Now that everyone plays, I feel like I’m doing something wrong. Few people love to play bridge, even though my mom is teaching lots of newcomers in Lakeland. My son wanted to join Varsity football practice after the end of the JV season, but he is in 7th grade, and only 8th graders are allowed to join. I was so proud of him for showing up anyway. When he said he was the only 7th grader, you can imagine how proud I was of mini-me. You can’t change the world if all you do is follow it.

Truths That Don’t Go Out of Style

My wife says I like being weird. Perhaps. Mostly, I just don’t like wasting energy on pursuing normal, especially when it’s a moving target. Brick walls get plastered and painted until the brick is in again. Clothes go out of style until they are old enough to become “vintage.” Email and texts made pen and paper obsolete until someone realized how special a handwritten note can make one feel.  AI may try to replace the splendor of the great outdoors, but it will fail.  One kind, spoken word silences a chorus of social media posts. Heart emojis can’t compete with hugs.

Live Like You Were Meant To

Being different feels hard when the weight of the world is against you. Don’t let that stop you. Find a couple of friends and blaze a new trail, or an old one that has been forgotten. The treasures to help you on your journey aren’t to be found on your phone, but in old books, attics, and cemeteries. The news today is the same as it was yesterday.

Serve while everyone is scrolling.
Fast while everyone else is feasting.
Run while everyone else is sitting.
Pray while everyone else is stressing.
Work while everyone else is playing.
Play while everyone else is working.
Give while everyone else is spending.
Love while everyone else is hating.
Be silent when everyone else is speaking.
Speak up when everyone else is silent.

God did not create you to be like everyone else. There is a box that only you were meant to check. You won’t figure it out by going with the flow. As Malcolm Muggeridge said, “Only dead fish swim with the stream.” I am thankful to be alive.

November 2025