I would like to redefine "cool" to make it more obtainable for everyone to discover their inner cool factor. We usually think of cool people as trendy and popular, but I would like to argue that being cool has more to do with being comfortable in your own skin. I noticed that a lot of the "cool" kids in my school growing up seemed very confident with what they said and did. Were they popular because they were confident or did they become confident because they were popular? Either way it worked, everyone wants to be comfortable with who they are and confident in what they do, regardless of age or social status.
At times, it's good to reach inside you and find your "cool" factor that lets you choose actions and activities with ease and fully benefit from the choices that you make. From the music you enjoy to the outfit you put on this morning to the car that you drive, life is substaintially better when you are confident in your choices. A lot of this confidence comes from having a good handle on who you are as a person. No one else knows you as well as you and what you are comfortable doing or looking like. Choosing something because someone else does something usually sets you up to feel awkward and not quite in control of the situation. Buy an album because you will like it. Try a new dish because you will like it. Take up a class or hobby because you will like it. Then have confidence in your choices and enjoy them fully.
This doesn't mean that you should never do something out of your comfort zone or take risks. In fact, being comfortable with yourself makes you more open to doing new things. But confidence and risk taking go hand in hand. Your a lot less likely to succeed at surfing in a bathing suit that doesn't fit you right. You will probably never belt out some karaoke if you can't find a song that you're very familiar with. You won't be as likely to cook a new meal if you haven't mastered your favorites. You won't try a new fashion trend if you've never figured out what your personal style is.
So figure out who you are and discover what makes you cool. Then live in confidence with yourself - because you are very very cool.
This is ironic--In my prayer time for my girls this morning, I was praying about them identifying their God-given talents and gifts and interests (see Stormie Omartian's The Power of a Praying Parent, chapter 15). I think women especially spend way too much time "not embracing" what they love to do and who they really are, in favor of what they think the rest of the world wants them to love and to do. For example, I spent too much time in my teens and twenties trying to embrace popular music and culture, when really I just don't get into it that much. I can appreciate it, but I don't really care about all of it much. My friends were really into it all, so I took that to mean that something was wrong with me. Finally now, years later, in my forties, I feel more comfortable in my own skin, enjoying the stuff of life that's really not cool by the standards of pop culture. (Like, I had to ask a friend who the heck this Bradley Cooper guy was. She felt I needed to "get out more." But really, once I found out who he was, I still just really didn't care.) Anyhow, it took me so long to really embrace the things that I was truly good at and the things that I truly enjoyed...my prayer for my daughters is that this won't happen to them. I don't want them to end up frustrated until their thirties, like I was.
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