Anyone who knows me, knows I’m a bit … loud. My laugh can be heard over a crowd, my voice projects when I talk without even trying, and I can’t tell a story without standing up and showing it in action. It’s just how I am. I’ve always been a theatrical storyteller.

We recently returned from our Cancun vacation and were at the hairdressers for my daughter’s haircut. The hairdresser asked about our trip and I couldn’t just leave it at “It was good.” Instead, I began telling her the story of the day we got stuck in a flood on an island and how the next day we got severely drenched waiting 10 minutes for a bus, of which both stories provided plenty of drama itself. But I didn’t just tell the story, I stood up for a few theatrical parts, much to my daughter’s dismay.

I believe it was around the time I was “slopping” behind the salon chair making squishing sound effects as the hairdresser laughed, that my daughter said, “MOM!” and gave me the look of please sit down.

On the ride home, she said, “Mom, your stories are really funny, but let’s face it — you’re rather loud. I think everyone in the salon heard and saw you tell the story.”

I of course laughed and said, “I probably cheered someone up in that room that needed a good laugh today.”

“But we don’t know the rest of those people,” she said.

I proceeded to remind her that this is just how God wired me and the way I’ve always told stories and events. She echoed–much to her dismay–she does the same thing. We both laughed.

Rather than try to be like everyone else, be your uniquely different self. Who knows, you might even brighten someone else’s day.