In our interview this week, author Katherine Paterson talked about growing up as a white missionary kid in China, wearing hand me down clothes and speaking Chinese while living in America. She stood out. Or more to the point, she didn't fit in. She was on the outside.

But as a result of being on the outer, Katherine found seclusion in the library, and that's where she began to read--and fired her creativity and imagination, and that led to her writing award-winning fiction.

Maybe you’ve had a similar experience. You’ve been an outsider for a period of time, but it resulted in an unexpected benefit. It caused you to see things differently, it gave you an objectivity you wouldn’t otherwise have had, it gave you a greater empathy for others.

You could've been an outsider in the workplace, at school, at church or even in a different culture overseas. What were the unexpected benefits of being on the outside?