“It Takes All Kinds To Fill The Freeway”

This might be a silly question, but have you ever really truly looked around you and realized how different we all are? We look different, speak different, dress different, love different…we are all different, but also all the same. And that is amazing. Sometimes we use “Different” negatively and instead I think it just means, there are things that make us unique and set us apart!

When I was growing up, I’d ask my mom all kinds of questions about people and why we were different, which funny enough was brought on because my mother got so tan in the summer time, we didn’t “match” and that confused me! At four years old, clearly I didn’t know anything, about anything. Apparently, I asked her one day after preschool why “everyone else had a ‘light mommy’ and I had a ‘dark mommy’. At the very least, I was observant.

In order to help me understand at a young age, that everyone is made up differently, she always used the same expression and I loved it. She would say, “Honey, it takes all kinds to fill the freeway”.

I love my mother for saying that to me, because from an early age I was taught to have no judgment, have an appreciation for my many blessings as well as appreciate that where I am now, has to do with the choices I’ve made, determination and grit and not a lot of luck.

Controversial or not, I don’t really care, but I do really believe we are all born with the very same opportunities. Sure, some of us are brought up with more access to things, but at the end of the day, it’s what we do with what we are given that matters. There are way too many examples of huge success earned by people who came from absolutely nothing to prove otherwise!

A close friend and mentor of mine, who receives a lot of attention really put things in perspective. He said, “I’m not different than you. I put my shoes on the same way, zip my hoodie up the same way…I’m not special or different. I’m just walking in my purpose.” PURPOSE! We all have a purpose, some of us know it, and many of us don’t. But if you do, it makes driving in your lane on the highway a whole lot more fulfilling.

No one is perfect. Perfect is boring and actually it doesn’t exist. We need every kind of person in order to learn from one another. We work better in numbers, in teams, equally supporting each other and learning from one another. We all have brilliant ideas, and creations. We may grow up with an engrained IDEA of how things should be, but perhaps be open minded to how things actually ARE. I’ve found the more I’m open to learning and loving, the more people I’m able to love. And the more I’m able to have a richer life.

We all have “stuff”, we all have things we’d love to change, but remember….you’re on the same freeway as everyone else. And we all have our “stuff”. We all have things our own “hard”. We all have to get from point A to point B. One way or another we get there, but it’s not always the same path.

While driving on the highway called life, you could stay in YOUR lane, and do YOU. But don’t be afraid to invite someone into your lane just because their car isn’t the same as yours.It takes all kinds to fill the freeway, and that’s the way it should always be. 

Xo,

Audrey…and my mama in Heaven, Deborah.