Being Different doesn't mean being Bad!
"Dare to be different!" - Many time we tend to view this statement from the negative perspective. Honestly, I used to think that daring to be different means doing things that nobody likes, espacially doing things which are bad. In my mind, some examples that surface out are smoking, drugs, pre-maritial sex, vulgarities....etc Anyone in the right frame of mind would know that engaging in these does not make one stand out as different, but rather plain silly (or if i may put it directly - stupid!) because of the severe consequences behind it!
What I want to highlight here today is about daring to be different in terms of creativity and innovativeness, daring to speak up and share ideas or viewpoints, and daring to stand up for right principles and values in life ... particularly for our youth generations now! The key element that causes youths nowadays to go the opposite direction and become crowd followers is largely due to peer pressure. Everyone wants to be well liked and loved by people around, everyone wants to find an identity for themselves and nobody likes to be left out... in the end, everyone becomes a crowd follower, even if they end up doing the wrong thing!
I have a youth in my church who can draw really well and has talent in graphic designing. However, he never thought much about his own abilities and never shared his inspirational work arts! Until one day we took note of it and encouraged him to share his pieces on our online forums so that in return could inspire other youths too! Now this young chap is in Laselle majoring his studies in this field, pursuing his dream. And he even does graphic designing on t-shirts for us! Here is one of his earlier simple masterpiece.
Another of my youth is currently in polytechnic now. He face the challenge of becoming a crowd follower in his class. Almost everyone jokes about pornography, crack indecent and crude jokes, make judgemental remarks and ostracize certain classmates because they choose not to be part of the "crowd". So one day when this youth, out of a good heart, went to help one of his classmates who was part of the "being-ostracized" group... the "crowd" walked past and began sneering the usualy crude and negative remarks at both of them. It was tough for this youth because he was caught in the middle, on being well liked and accepted by the "crowd" or doing something which he believed was right. In the end, he did the right thing by choosing to ignore and not bother about the crowd. It was tough but he dared to make his stand and be different. 
I remember the Bible speaks of one verse: "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?" - Luke 9:25
Truly, daring to be different doesn't mean being bad... you can be a superhero to many when you dare to be different! Make the right choice today!
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