Better

A ‘positive deviant’ would mean, in more simple terms, ‘good difference’. So when Atul Gawunde gives tips on becoming a positive deviant, he’s talking about how to make yourself stand out in a good way. In the Afterward he wrote, he talks about medicine and gives tips on how to stand out as a doctor- but one could become a positive deviant in whatever way possible. In my case, I could become a positive deviant in high school.

His first tip is to ask a question that’s friendly and doesn’t have anything to do with the work at hand. If I were to treat my classmates as though they’re just other students that I have to go to school with, I’d never get anywhere in life. But if I were to ask them questions- “What’s your favorite color?” “Where do you buy your clothes?” “What’d you do this summer?”- they become real people, and once they become real people, it’ll be easier to work with them. Instead of thinking ‘My task is to work with this person whose name is Joshua,’ I’d be thinking ‘Oh, great! I get to work with Joshua! He likes that one roleplay website as much as I do, so we can talk about that while we’re working!’ I can make friends easily that way. Just as well, if I’m working with someone I don’t know that well, I’m more likely to be nervous and mess up. But if I ask them questions and get to know them, it becomes easier and easier to work, and thus I do a better job.

His second tip is that you shouldn’t complain. That’s something that I already know, but I still complain a lot to my friends, and sometimes even to my parents. When I complain, whatever I was doing becomes less and less something I want to do. It becomes harder to finish, harder to work with others, harder to just continue with whatever it is I was doing. It’s scientifically proven that if you frown or grimace, your mood drops. If you smile, your mood rises. The same must be true with attitude. If I act like something is really horrible and boring and I-don’t-want-to-do-this-anymore, then I’ll shut down and stare down at the paper as though it has done something to me personally. But if I act like it’s just another task I must perform to become a better me, I can get it done with the thought of a good outcome.

His third tip is to count something interesting. That’s not saying that I should go around my house counting all the books (I’d lose count and probably bore myself to sleep that way)- but if I see snails after a light shower, I could count them, and perhaps that night it would rain harder and I could count the snails the next day and compare the two numbers. I could count only my books, and then compare them to the amount of books my friend owns. When he says counting, he doesn’t mean that you should just count something and let it be done with. Notice other details that go along with that number. Let’s say I have more horror novels than my friend- that says something about our personal preferences, and about our personalities. Counting isn’t just ‘one, two, three, four…” What are you counting? What does that number represent in your mind? Is the number too high or too low? Do you think you should own fewer books or more books?

His fourth tip is to write something, anything. It could be a simple list, or it could be a novel. Whatever it is, just write. I’ve already taken this tip to heart, even before I read the Afterward. I’ve been writing short stories and poetry since before first grade, although when I was younger my words were sillier and more childish. Because I’ve been writing so long, I’ve figured out ways to easily describe my emotions without just writing “I am happy because…” Instead of that, I could write something like “There’s a certain joy welling up inside of me, a certain overwhelming happiness that makes me want to run out, into the cold or warm, into the rain or shine, and laugh like a small child in the spring.” I could then go on to write more details about why I’m happy. And instead of someone reading that and saying, “Oh, that’s great,” they could say “Oh, wow, I know exactly what you mean!” And it’s in those moments that you feel especially connected with the world.

His fifth and final tip is to change. Now, he doesn’t mean that every week you should completely change who you are in order to be constantly changing. He means that if something comes along that is different, learn to adapt to it. In the past couple of years I’ve had to learn this. Up until seventh grade my life has generally been the same, and I was perfectly content with that. But in eighth grade things started changing, new things began popping up, and old things that I had grown used to and wanted to keep the way they were began to either disappear from my life or change drastically. For a while it was like I was standing over a crack in the earth with one foot on the side of my younger reality and the other foot on the side of this new reality, trying desperately to pull them back together to make my present time normal again. But the crack began to widen, and if I didn’t choose one side or the other I was going to fall in and die. I chose the new side, not because it was safer, but because in the end I decided that whatever happens in life happens, and I’m going to be changing my entire life anyways.

In high school I expect new cracks will appear in the pavement, but when they come, I’ll be ready for more change.