I heard somewhere that a teacher told a young man he’d never amount to anything…that man was Einstein! I have no idea how true it is, but I do know that may great minds, successful people of all stripes have been told that they won’t achieve anything, that they’re worthless, stupid, should stop daydreaming of success and come back to earth.
I was told as a child my drawing/writing was childish. Um, yeah! I’m a child, der. But of course, back then, I just accepted that was true, and didn’t write or draw for years unless I had to. I’m sure the teacher who made the comment didn’t mean to stifle my creativity for 25 years, but sadly, that was the effect it had.
In fact, that’s true of so many of us – someone in authority tells us we “can’t” do something, or we aren’t talented, or we’re stupid, and we take it on and live down to it. But who the hell are they to say? Who can judge what a man will be like when he’s 8? Who can judge what a woman can achieve when she’s 14?
Don’t let the people who made throwaway, frustrated comments in your direction when you were a child (or any age for that matter) define how you live your life. Defy their opinion, reject it, release it…and live up to what you’re capable of. Brilliance. We all are capable of brilliance, of shining our light and making a difference, simply by releasing the shackles put on us by others.
The mind is an amazing tool, and can take a throwaway insult as an instruction to live to – especially if someone in authority says it is so. At heart, we’re pack animals, and we want approval from the Alpha’s. But we’re also able to reason, reject and and disregard any limitations imposed on us…whether by our own stories about life, or by an external authority figure.
It helps to have a streak of contrariness – I’ve always said that if a medical practitioner ever has the impertinence to tell me how long I have to live, I shall live at least twice as long out of sheer bloody-mindedness. But even without that rebellious streak that says “don’t tell me what to do”, you can gently drop the constraints of other people’s opinions.
An opinion isn’t a fact, it’s a perception…and not always a fair or accurate perception. We’re all entitled to our opinions, and we are also entitled to ignore, reject and otherwise brush off the opinions of anyone we choose. This is your life my love, don’t live it to the direction of someone else, someone who doesn’t know you, someone who cannot possibly predict what you can or can’t do.
The only person who can decide whether you can or you can’t is you…and often if you think you can’t, you’re wrong! So don’t let yourself limit you either. Try. Give yourself the freedom and the support and love to try and live up to all you are capable of. You won’t have to stretch, you’ll just have to release all the constraints that have been put around you by either yourself or others.
Can you think of something that was said about you? Something that you’ve been dragging around like a ball and chain for a while? What if, just for today, you decided that perception was wrong? What if, just for today, you decided that you can be creative, intelligent, strong, independent, fearless and fabulous? What if you lived up to the highest expectation of you, not down to the lowest? Just…what if?
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