Sometimes the world is a strange place. Plain and simple. Sometimes you look at the things going on around you and wonder if they make any sense at all. For example, we live in a world driven by fear. Fear of life and death, of success and failure of happiness and sadness. At times we fear even the things that give us hope. We wonder if the onset of the positive may forever render us susceptible to the negative. And at what point does too much positive turn into negative. All of these things handcuff even the best of us. They stop ambition in its tracks and force us to suppress our drive to become great. Why do we allow ourselves to fall into this trap? Why is it that the minute we do something spectacular, something incredible, our first reaction is to hide, as if our success is something to be ashamed about. Is it because we feel our success somehow makes us a target for those who have not felt the same triumph? Is it because we fear others will not view our contribution as a success? Or is it because we truly feel that what we have done is not worthy of recognition? Perhaps it is because we fear that the brighter our light grows, the more difficult it becomes to maintain its luminescence. Or perhaps we fear that as that light glows bright, we risk someone putting it out. For whatever reason, success has a tendency to embarrass us.
Well, it’s time to stop being embarrassed, because what you have done is worthy of recognition.
A wise man once told me that being arrogant is not necessarily a bad thing, but being smug is. It is time for all of us to stop diminishing who we are for the benefit of others. Likewise, it is not up to others to dull their shine for our benefit.
It is not our responsibility to hide our talents or skills just because others do not possess them. Stand up, believe in yourself and stick to your guns, because by god you might be right. Be ready to admit that you are wrong, when some equally arrogant fool like yourself stands up and delivers their viewpoint. But always have confidence that who you are is good, what you are doing is right and why you are doing it is just.
Adam Fearnall 