Everyone is Special

A few days ago, Mom came home from Costco with The Lego Movie. I've seen it three times since then, and I really love it. I love it's silly/cheesy moments. I love how everything in the Lego universe can be transformed into almost anything else. And I especially love the message of the movie - that  anyone can be "The Special."

The first time I heard the phrase "Everyone is Special" from a movie was during a scene from The Incredibles in which Dash, a young boy with super-powers is talking to his mom, who also has super-powers. The family of Supers had been forced to hide their powers in an attempt to fit in with the rest of the world, "but Dad said our powers are nothing to be ashamed of - that our powers make us special," Dash said, to which his mom responded "Everyone is special, Dash," after which, Dash grumbled "That's just another way of saying no one is."

One of the few things that I dislike about The Incredibles is that they never resolve this concern. They never explain how everyone can be special and unique without "special" and "unique" becoming normal. Right now, I am ironically wearing a T-shirt that reads "You're unique - Just like everyone else," and depicts nine stick figures which are each exactly the same, indicating that there's nothing special about being unique because everyone is unique and special.

Fortunately, The Lego Movie answers that concern by having one completely normal person, followed by several others, begin to see what's so special about each of them, and unlock their potential to do extraordinary things. I hope I haven't given too much away to those who haven't seen the movie yet. I'll try to stop talking about it now.

Bishop H. Burke Peterson spoke about each of us being special when he said:

You were preserved to come to the earth in this time for a special purpose. Not just a few of you, but all of you. There are things for each of you to do that no one else can do as well as you. If you do not prepare to do them, they will not be done. Your mission is unique and distinctive for you. Please don’t make another have to take your place. He or she can’t do it as well as you can.

I sometimes find it hard to imagine that there's anything that I could do better than anyone else. For each individual thing I can do, I'm sure there's someone on earth who could do it better. But each of us has a unique set of talents and abilities, and God's plans for each of us takes every aspect of ourselves into account. I'm definitely not the best blogger on the internet, or the most knowledgeable scholar of Gospel doctrine, or the best at coming up with new ideas, but when I combine those traits, it's potentially possible that I'm one of the best people in the world at seeing ordinary things, coming up with gospel-related analogies for them, and blogging about them. It's possible that blogging about new gospel-related analogies is part of God's purpose for my life, and that there's no one better at what God wants me to do than me.

In fact, I think that last part holds true for everyone. There's no one in the world, or even the history of the world, that's better at what God wants you to do than you are. Even if someone else could fill the role that God has assigned to you, they couldn't do it as well as you could. In that way, you are special and unique, and no one can adequately take your place.

I fully believe that it's possible for everyone in the world to be unique and special. In fact, I truly believe that everyone is.