She doesn’t want your attention. She doesn’t want your recognition. She just wants to be loved.
You know the girl I’m referring to. You pass by her once a week on the way to fulfill whatever is so important in your schedule. There’s no time to talk, no time to smile, no time to even glance in her direction. Maybe it’s that she’s an outcast. Maybe she’s not your type. But who has the right to say people can be cast out; who has the right to say people have a type?
The problem with our society today is that we’ve decided who can be successful and who cannot.
We teach children to follow their dreams and promise young adults they can do anything if they put forth the effort. Yet look how we tear them down. We label people by their achievements instead of by their potential. Life becomes a never-ending game of who can be the best at this and who can be better than that. We make as much noise as we can, bringing attention to every perfect accomplishment and every envied success.
So we set apart the silent.
That girl is invisible because no one tried to find the beauty inside. We live in a world that promises reward to those who succeed on the outside. If we truly knew how to look inside someone and judge them by their heart we’d realize everyone’s central organ was built the same. We were meant to understand how alike we are while being able to praise the differences, not use them to put people on pedestals and tear others down.
And so as a hope for change, I say we watch the one who is invisible this year. Maybe they didn’t make any big accomplishments last year, or maybe it’s just that we didn’t try to see them. If we can push aside our own achievements and truly appreciate what everyone around us is doing, I believe we can make the best 2012 this world could hope for. It’s not about impacting society, or culture, or science, or history. It’s about creating a new life for the future where people, all people, are truly appreciated.
You never know what the invisible girl could do if you only let her.