Motivational Mondays: Swagger Jackers

        We scratched the surface of this topic months ago but now I'm ready to dig a little deeper. Remember when you first went natural and everyone looked at you like you had ten heads? Remember when you decided you wanted to make your health first priority? You started waking up extra early in the morning to go to the gym and even started shopping in natural and organic grocery stores and started buying protein shakes and all that healthy crap? People lost their minds! And let's not even talk about your passion for the great outdoors! Meditating, camping, rock climbing, running 5ks.

      Total. Outcast. But for you, solitude is bliss! Your individuality totally defines who you are! Who cares what everybody else thinks and what they're doing! All that matters is you are doing what makes you happy and THAT, that's good enough for you.

And then...it happens. Perms fade. TWA's become the new black. Bohemian, natural and organic all become main stream. Yoga is where it's at. Everything that proclaims your uniqueness is the new fad and you just get lost in the sauce. Your "swag" has officially been jacked.

That was my clever vent. For a while I was beginning to feel like that. I use to get picked on, talked about AND ostracized because I was "weird". It really use to eat at me. What made it worst was when people started mimicing the same stuff I was after they looking down on me about the same things! And then to but the icing on the cake, I wouldn't receive credit for anything! But real recognizes real. 

So how do we deal with the swagger jackers? We embrace them! Why? :

• It let's us know we are actually doing something right! Imagine! People want to be like YOU! Your not a total outcast after all!
• It's a great opportunity to show your expertise. S.J. are usually superficial. They do things because it looks cool but that doesn't necessarily mean there's a passion behind it.
• Chronic S.J.s usually are searching for themselves. Instead of getting your panties in a bunch and whining "Stop copying me!" try encouraging them. Sometimes self discovery is a little difficult..imagine if we all had a little guidance.
• Maybe...juuuust maybe they're not jacking your swag after all! Maybe they made the discovery a little later than you and are growing a love for it. It never hurts to have a couple things in common with someone. Who knows maybe that person will turn out and become your best friend! 
• Piggy backing off of the previous point, you may actually be able to learn something from the S.J!!

   Ultimately I needed a few friends to break it down for me to get past this lol. But unless you're a swagger jacker yourself, no one can truly take away your individuality. Our unique personalities, our up bringings, how we live our lives from day to day, those are things that separate us from the mass. So keep doing what you do trendsetters! *Whispers behind hand* They can't keep up!