I took a graduate class called “The Psychology of Excellence,” and clearly, I had minor adrenaline rushes throughout the semester based simply on the name. But when our professor played a Ted Talk by Shawn Achor, my mind began running even more.

Achor discussed the fact that our society has tried to push everyone toward a standard average curve…aka toward “normal.”   He goes on to argue, however, that in fact, it’s those crazy little dots that fall outside the curve of normal that are actually worth studying, learning, and hopefully becoming. By daring to escape the curse of normalcy we have the opportunity to one day achieve true greatness, particularly when we ground that outlier behavior in Christ. (and yes, I also added the Christ part.)

I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did and that it encourages you to keep striving to be different, striving to be all that you’ve been called and created to be as men and women in Christ, and ultimately accepting that your difference of greatness is in fact a gift…