HAVE YOU MET ME?

Yes! I may not have the best functioning home 

I may not have so much money yet 
 I may not look so pretty                                                    
And I may not even be so smart 
            But I am me!
I don’t have your home, you brains or your looks 
But that’s simply because I Am Me ... The Best Ever!

I used to feel down, like I was odd and out of place in the midst of people. I thought every other person had a perfect life, I always wanted to be someone else until I had the chance to catch a glimpse of what their lives really were…

Kevwe  was pretty as a diva, had the carriage of a duchess, and pulled a crowd wherever she went. She seemed to have it all and though she was my friend, I avoided being close to her because I felt like a speck of dust standing beside her…I felt insignificant! Then one day I heard her say “if only I had a happy home like yours…” wow! 


Then I met Sonia … she was beautiful and wild, not afraid to take on the world and I thought “if only I was this bold and beautiful” until she sat face to face with me and said “you are beautiful, I love your eyes”. She was off the next minute but I stopped to ponder…she didn’t have any reason to want to flatter me so was she serious?

Well then, there was Dubem…he could sing for Africa! And I thought "I love to sing but will I ever be able to sing like Dubem?" My voice was too tiny and fragile, or so I thought, till I saw a replica of what I had despised, winning a music competition...

That was when it dawned on me that no one has it all. We all have something to be proud of as well as something we are not so proud of. The only difference is that they are fitted to suit our peculiarities and some people do a good job trying to hide their imperfections such that you only see the ‘perfections’. 
At this point, I had to call myself to order after some deep thinking … let’s assume I could become like all these people what would that make me? The second best of an imperfect being? That simply isn’t not good enough!  

Come to think of it, I had always been too busy checking other people out, I never really took the time to look at me.  So I paused to take a long look at me and instantly, I saw beyond my clothes, my shyness, my clumsiness to the real me, one who has all it takes to be content with being me. 

It was an awesome discovery for me. So I sat, and began to carefully polish the me I saw, so others could begin to see me too and I realized I could be anything I wanted. I realized how much people craved for my specific voice texture, only when I began to use it. Then I paid attention to my eyes and I could see what Sonia saw, I began to appreciate my family more regardless. And guess what, it boosted my confidence to know that I love what I have, and if people can’t appreciate it, then they must either be blind,  insensitive, or just myopic. Either ways, it’s their problem, not mine. Now, I am much more comfortable with me, just as I am; with or without make up, with or without a crowd of followers, amidst all kinds of opinions, I am unperturbed because this is me learning to live life being authentic, being who God made me to be. This is me not having to do jack, let alone trash, to gain someone's approval because I realize, my own approval is more important after all.






This is a tribute to those still living in the shadows of others, still struggling with inferiority complex. You are special and your world needs what you’ve got. Don’t hide it under mediocrity.

By Fidelia Ben-Udi