I always knew I wanted to be special.

I mean, who doesn’t?

It took me a while – 25 years to be exact – to truly grasp the meaning of it. “Special,” what does it take to be this and how do you achieve it?

Finally, I have come to the realization that I have been defining it wrong and looking at it with a narrow point of view. It all starts with happiness. Safe to say I can speak for everyone by saying, we all want to be happy. Heck, I pray for happiness every night. The issue is, sometimes we do not know what will make us happy. I associate happiness with this need to be special.

I thought to be special – and ultimately, content – I had to be thought as so by the masses. As I am now older and wiser, I understand that universal acclaim does not necessarily equal joy.

Being special to those who truly love me and know me – my family (my loving parents, my proud grandparents, my sister who idolizes me, my cousins, my cats, and so on) – is enough. To them, I am enough. To them, I am great. Having people (or someone) who really knows you and thinks you are “it” – that is something.

So why did I feel like I had to be special to people who do not know me or would never really know me? Maybe I simply did not realize what I had, or maybe I did not know my own worth.

Yes, being special to loved ones is exceptional but there is something possibly more gratifying – being special to yourself.

I won’t lie and say that if you do not think you’re special, no one will – because there is still family, parents, siblings, pets, etc. I do, however, think that you won’t feel like something until you believe you are something.

So no, you do not have to be famous or have money flowing out of your ears to be special or worth something. There are plenty of unhappy people with money and fame.

As an avid reader, books hold a special place in my heart. They have a way of making seemingly normal people into dazzling, incredible heroes. Movies and TV shows do the same thing. We want to be that person who turns out to be extraordinary. Well, what if all it takes is believing in it for yourself?

What if the pixie dust is redefining what it means to be special and how it is attained?

We can start by looking in the mirror and telling ourselves, “I am special, because I am the only one of me.”