CAMDEN — There’re days when I feel like a character in a TV series. Sadly, I never feel like the suave, cool, dangerous character. I’m typically the regular guy no one notices. Which is what today’s column is about, because that’s ok.
When we were kids, we grew up noticing our favorite players, certain super heroes, random movie stars, and impressive characters in our favorite books. All of these influences left the impression of what “cool” was in our minds. When you played with your friends, you either pretended to be the character you admired, or you made one up based off of them. They impacted you from a young age in some fashion, and left you interested in the ideal image of what they were. Perhaps that hero, character, or villain defined your version of cool, and now even in your 30’s you find yourself getting excited over certain movies because you find similarities. It’s normal.
That said, there’s nothing wrong with being you. A constant mistake many of us make is believing we could be better if we were like someone or something else. “If I only had that,” or “If only I looked like him/her” runs through our heads giving us a pretend scenario where we’re better off thanks to that addition to ourselves. This is a constant threat in today’s society: At any second you could be sucked into the world’s black hole called 'Lack-of-Self-Worth,' which is a vicious and constant vacuum intent on pulling you in and spitting you out “a new person,” void of your uniqueness. See, Edison didn’t create the light bulb because he was like everyone else. He created it because he had a unique mind full of brilliant ideas and images. He had an understanding as to what failure really is. One of his quotes says: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
The same works for us. When we make mistakes, we tend to beat ourselves up, fret over the consequence, and succumb to agitation. Whereas that’s normal, the healthier thought process would be to stand back up, brush ourselves off, and acknowledge our mistake as a lesson. At some point, somewhere, someone made the first mistake. Personally, I believe it was Adam and Eve. But even if you don’t believe in the Bible, there was still a first mistake. The encouraging thing is that life has continued, even after the zillion mistakes that followed the first. We are who we are, not because of our birth into this life, but because of how we’ve allowed this life to shape us. It’s a molding process. Day in and day out, you’ll meet new challenges, rise to new standards, and eventually slip up again. On that day, it’s best to laugh about it rather than cry. It’s better to stand back up, rather than lay defeated. It’s better to fight for improvement rather than settle for less. It’s better to work for perfection, than struggle to be perfect. It’s better to be yourself, than someone else.
(Contact Jackson Keller at [email protected] or 870-836-8192 with any questions, comments, or opinions.)