A Look Back

Today I was thinking about all of the times when I was growing up that someone told me what I couldn't do, and then also explained to me all of the reasons that I couldn't do it.  This kind of behavior seemed to occur across a wide range of things, from school clubs, to scoring well on the SAT, to attending college, or any number of things.  It really didn't matter what it was that I wanted to do, someone always found a reason to tell me that I couldn't do it.  The sad part is that all of these people did not have the time or inclination to encourage me, but nearly all of them always had the time and inclination to put me down and crush my hopes and dreams.

Now, it is a different story.  Instead of telling me all the things that I cannot do, people ask me how I am able to do all of the things that I do.  Instead of telling me the reasons why I cannot succeed, people ask me to explain the reasons why I succeed.  Instead of looking down upon me, people look up to me.

This realization is not me going on an ego trip, but rather it is me again pondering all that I might have done if people had encouraged me way back then.  If I hadn't had to work so hard to overcome all of the negativity around me, would I be doing even better?  If I hadn't had to spend so much time teaching myself to ignore anyone who wasn't on my side, would inspirational words have lifted me higher?  If I hadn't had to live with the mentality that if someone wasn't with me, they were against me, would I have been happier growing up and struggling to make it?

Probably not.  The truth of the matter is that I took those words and used them as inspiration every single day.  Any time that I felt like quitting, any time that my belief in myself started to falter, or whenever I started to lose my drive, I used those words to inspire me to accomplish greatness.

Now, I have surpassed all of those childhood dreams, and the best part is that I have realized that the sky is the limit.  I was never deaf to negativity, but I always heard it as inspiration.