What's the Difference Between?

A favorite joke of my father's is "What's the difference between a saloon and an elephant's gas emission? One's a BARroom and one's a barROOM!"

Ok, the joke is a little cheesy, I admit.

But I love the question "what's the difference between" because it asks us to carefully consider our options. What sets an idea apart? It is more than just casually considering two choices, the question asks us to not only consider pros and cons but the substantive qualitative differences.

There is a theory of identity development which posits that one of the ways we develop our own identities is by defining ourselves and defining the other. There are of course other ways we develop our own identities, but one is by identifying what makes us different.

By identifying what make choices different, we can embolden and advocate for the ones for which we opt. Sometimes that makes all the difference.