Be Anything You Want to Be in Life, But Not Average and Ordinary

“I’m obsessively opposed to the typical.”

                                                Lady Gaga

There are a lot of things you can say about Lady Gaga, but being ordinary isn’t one of them.

This is yet another one of the things I greatly admire about her. I likewise have always had a passion for not being average and ordinary. Who wants to be some Joe Shmoe walking down the street, who is just like everyone else, and blends into the background? Or be the person who meets someone new at a social event and has nothing to offer their new acquaintance that is interesting or stimulating? I don’t know about you, but I am not going to live the only life I have never being noticed, and be relegated to history as an afterthought.

My brother Danny, God rest his soul, was a very high-energy Type A. I remember him and me talking once when we were teenagers, after we had just gotten seriously into weightlifting. We talked about how we both wanted to go to college and have a professional career, but we also didn’t want to look like just an average office worker. We dreamt about having a high-powered career, but also being bodybuilders who were far more muscular than anyone you would typically see in an office. We wanted to freak people out! We wanted what we considered the best of all worlds. That was our dream.

Danny and I were both able to see our dream through to fruition. He became a law school professor, and was an excellent amateur bodybuilder. He loved going to class on the first day and have his students just sort of stare at him! I also accomplished having a good career and a high fitness level. I remember one time, when I was in my thirties and training really hard, I wore a short-sleeved shirt to the office on casual day. One of my staff members remarked, “Wow, you have forearms like a grave digger!” Mission accomplished.

Whether you are a hard-core Type A like me and my brother, or the most laid back Type B, I still say: don’t settle for just ordinary. Be different or special in some way. Run a marathon, go on an African safari, take in foster children, or whatever. Take it from Lady Gaga: “You have to be unique, and different, and shine in your own way.” Life is just too damn short.