I saw this interesting post on Facebook yesterday:
I’ve heard the sentiment so many times, you must fail to succeed. The biggest successes were also the biggest failures. You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.
I know these things are true, but it’s so hard to push through and make it happen.
As I sit down with this blank page, I feel a small bit of terror. Why would anyone want to hear what I have to say? Is there anything even worth saying? Can mere words accomplish anything?
The blank page is scary. Not because of it’s limitations but because of it’s potential.
The moment I put words on this page, they have the chance to fail. And what could be more embarrassing than failing in public!?
That'd be almost as bad as telling you about the time in 6th grade when I showed up for the first day of school wearing…
Hmmm… Maybe that’s just the story I should tell.
The first day of 6th grade I moved to a new school district. I show up for the first day wearing new shoes, new shorts and a polo shirt.
Stepping out of the car I can feel everyone’s eyes on me. The new kid is here, a stranger thrown among old friends.
As my mom drives off, I see someone in the school yard I actually know, a neighbor. I walk up and say hi. He leans in and whispers 9 terrifying words, “Don’t you know, shorts aren’t allowed in middle school...”
The world spins slightly as the truth sinks in. In this new place, I don't understand the rules. I look around. Sure enough, I'm the only one in sight wearing shorts. I feel like a sore thumb sticking out all over the place.
Worse yet, it's the first day of school, and that means building tours. After parading through every classroom in the middle school, the teachers walk us next door where proceed to visit every single classroom in the high school as well. We are seen by every single upper classman in the entire district. And everywhere I go, I'm the only kid wearing shorts. I'm mortified...
Looking back, I’m not embarrassed I wore shorts, but am embarrassed that I was embarrassed at all. Embarrassment is like a disease. FDR could have said, “the only thing we have to be embarrassed about is embarrassment itself…”
Today, no one cares how many shots Jordan missed, or how many games he lost. Winning a basketball game requires a lot of embarrassing misses.
No one cares what I wore to Middle School. And if the words I write today bore you, you can simply hit delete.
As a matter of fact, you should delete this. Quit reading my ideas and get a few of your own on paper. Can’t wait to see ‘em. Write something totally outlandish. Embarrass yourself in a big way, for it's inside those gut wrenching mistakes that great successes lay waiting…