Most of us have seen that Christmas movie Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and the Island of the Misfit Toys, I know that it's been a Christmas tradition in our family since before I was born (yes I'm that young). Yesterday, my oldest son came up to me and said, "mommy, am I weird? My friend says I'm weird." After I was able to reassure him about how everyone is different and it's a good thing, I started thinking about how I too often feel "weird" or "out of place" when I'm with my peers.
To me, JDFT starts out for most as the Island of Misfit Toys, a place where everyone who has been hurt, broken and neglected can go and feel 100% safe and accepted. Many of us have walked through that door hanging by our last threads looking for someone who gets it, someone who's got your back no matter what and as long as you're willing to extend the same courtesy, you'll never be lonely or a misfit again. They're in the business of helping you to improve your life, inside and out, one broken little piece at a time. I know that there are a lot of us who've felt like misfits walking through those doors, but after a week or two our confidence increases, and little by little the healing begins. Soon you're no longer a misfit, just a member of a community that thinks outside of the box and accepts you for exactly who you are.
I understand that an island full of misfits isn't appealing to everyone, but it's worth checking out, after all, everyone is a misfit in some way, shape or form. It's because this gym is different that makes it so special to each and every one of its' members but it's also because of that difference that the staff and Jo herself has to work their asses off twice as hard in order to keep the gym open, in order to get funding etc... They all do it without hesitation because they were all misfits too, and they want to ensure that no toy gets left behind.
If you feel like an outcast and need that place to go where you can be accepted, or are considering checking out the gym, just do it! I promise you that you will not feel left behind or like an outcast. Once you walk through those doors, you are no longer a misfit, you become a member of a community of former misfits who have found a safe place to be themselves and to accepted for it.
I find that the very things that I get criticized for, which is usually being different and just doing my own thing and just being original, is the very thing that's making me successful. Shania Twain
