So often in life we are disuaded from achieving our dreams by people who tell us what we are not capable of. After all, the reason why your friends are your friends is because you all share some common interests with one another. But what happens when you develop an interest that is not shared by the other person - or the other people in your sphere?
I remember when I decided to leave school and join the Air Force. That was SO not my character - at least as how I was seen by my family and friends; however, I knew I wanted to do something different with my life at that time and that was the choice I made. I got the same reaction from most of those same people years later when I made the decision to become a police officer. Again, I violated the image that was held by those around me; however, I was doing so to better myself and to find self-satisfaction and not live up to someone else's expectations of what, who, or how I should be.
And now ... Now that I am a published author, I have done it yet again. So many people - especially those I work with - only see me as one way. In other words, they see my uniformed persona and figure that's who I am all the time in their minds. A select few know that is far from the truth. Many people who know me - who see me on a daily basis - can't envision me as a speaker or a writer.
But you know what? That doesn't bother me. Why should it? Why should I be bothered by what someone else cannot see in me? Why should you allow youself to be disuaded from reaching for your dreams by people who claim to care about you? You see ... these are the people I call the "Bubble Busters." They cannot envision a better way for themselves, so they work overtime at insuring you cannot see a better way for yourself.
Why can I not be a speaker? Because "so & so" cannot see him - or herself standing before a room full of strangers - or even friends, acquaintances, and or colleagues and giving a speech, I can't be capable of doing so? I THINK NOT!! Why can I not be a writer? Because "so & so" cannot see him - or herself making the time to write down a stray thought here and there over the years, and then compile and format those thoughts & ideas into a blog; an essay, a short story or even a book? I THINK NOT!!
Why can't you live up to your dreams? Because "so & so" said you weren't worthy? HOGWASH!! I may not have read my bible and my Qu'ran from cover to cover, but I am 99.9999% certain there are not scriptures in either doctrine that refer to a "so & so" telling us we are unworthy of achieving our dreams. What I do know is the devil is a liar, as is anyone who tells you that you are incapable of succeeding if you have it in your heart to put in the work necessary to succeed! Now, I can see if it's someone who is where you want to be and they are telling you that you need to improve yourself. But even if that person is instead destroying your hopes, you must understand why.
There are two dynamics at play here:
(1) Either the person does not want to see you succeed because they cannot (as Zig Ziglar says) "See the reaching" for themselves; i.e., the "misery loves company" & "Crabs in a barrell" scenarios.
or ...
(2) They do see that spark in you, and instead of fanning that spark into a flame of achivement, they try to squash it out because they are afraid that you will either rise to their level and or perhpas even surpass them; in which case they feel threatened by you.
I say to hell with them both! There is so much in this world. God gave us all of this for the taking, but taking something without having earned it or having it rightfully bestowed upon you nothing more than stealing.
Who do you want to be? What do you want to be? Don't worry about what other people can or cannot see in you ... BE more than what they SEE, and once you've become it, you will be the better person for it!
Take Care
No comments:
Post a Comment