Eniola Olaosebikan: Walking In Your Unique Identity

At a meeting consisting of different food vendors, ten ladies were asked to walk up to the stage. On getting to the stage, they were immediately told to walk back. Amazed, everybody wondered what was going on, even the ladies themselves. Then just as they were wondering, the convener of the seminar, who happens to be a man, asked them to walk towards the stage again. This time around, he told the audience to watch them keenly. Then after the second walk, he asked the audience what they noticed.

“shoes, skirts, make-up…” they all echoed.

For the last and final time, he told these ladies to walk again. But this time around, just before they walked, he told the audience to pay attention to the way the women walked. After the walk, he asked the audience if the ladies walked the same way; there was a resounding ‘no’ in the audience. Even though the ladies were handpicked and somehow of the same height and weight, they all walked differently.

“You see in life, some things are basic and important; things we all must do if we have to survive and survive well. Walking is one of them. You see those ten ladies? Didn’t they all walk? How many of them can you say walked exactly alike? None right?” They all nodded in agreement.

He then continued: “walking is a fundamental activity in life and at that, no two people walk exactly the same regardless of the seeming similarities”. He then said further- “who has walked before you has little or nothing to do with your own walking. No doubt, they can inspire your walking, but they’ll never limit it.

In the same vein, success just as walking, was designed to be a fundamental part of life. People have been made and designed by God to succeed in different ways and in various fields. Why then are people afraid to step out?

One of the basic reasons is the fear of- ‘somebody is already doing what I want to do’. So what? Weren’t people walking already before you were born, and won’t people walk after you are gone? So would it be sane to say that you’ll choose not to walk because billions of people are already walking? That would be unheard of.

You see, in life and the way we were made, it really does not matter the number of people doing what you want to do. You were born with a different flavor and so, you’ll excel differently. Besides, provided you do not copy other people, provided you walk in your own uniqueness, you will be a match for no one when eventually you step out.

Have you ever wondered why we literally all have similar palm prints but different finger prints? Even those of identical twins? We were made with such intricacy, accuracy and detail. Your coming to the earth is never an accident. We were all made in a specific uniqueness- such uniqueness that expresses clearly our differences, despite our similarities as humans.

Are you a singer? A dancer? A writer? A doctor? A Lawyer? Are you afraid to step out because you think the world is already saturated with many of such? May I have the privilege to announce to you that you are different and at that- would do things differently? Don’t we all write in the world (someway somehow) and don’t we all have specific hand writings no matter the similarities?

Furthermore, if you ask a set of women to cook a stew using the same ingredient, won’t the stew end up having different tastes despite the sameness of the ingredients used- why? Because each person was born with a unique stamp; such that would make the world know- this is this person; that is that person. Or aren’t Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, James Brown acclaimed world’s best singers? Do they sing alike? Do they even sound alike? And the females too- talking about Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, … do they sing alike as well? The answer is no. In the same vein, we all have our individual stamps and signatures. And in cases where people sound or sing exactly alike, somebody for sure is copying somebody, else the confusion in voices and acts wouldn’t be.

What is holding you back today? Are you a fashion designer, an artist? Forget the number of people already in your field, even those that are planning to join. Launch out if you think you have what it takes. Learn from others, have mentors, study all you can, and when it is time to kick off- never be carried away by the phrase- ‘everybody else is doing it’. Know that you were uniquely made and at that- different from everybody else. You are simply you.

Inasmuch as nobody else can be you physically, nobody else can do the things you were born to do as well. You are different, and unique- let that sink in- the man concluded.

Photo Credit: Kiosea39 | Dreamstime