Truth exists (Part VIII)
Embarrassment after your attempt at taking on responsibility is a sign of greatness.
What we do in life is no accident if we "truly" decide on a direction to follow.
Here is another way to view the above statement. Whether or not you know what you want to do in life, you will come to a crossroads, where you will decide to pursue some discipline. After you make a decision, there is an expectation of what will come next: the ups and downs that will lead to discovery.
We can only consider life an accident when we don't decide what to do. Then life will happen around you versus through you.
I am an African-born immigrant and now a citizen of the United States. When I arrived in America, my opportunity to explore and discover the world and myself grew exponentially. The first order of operation was to learn the English language; if you ask me, still a work in progress 20 years later. Despite the first challenge, I yearned to get involved and participate in important affairs, so becoming a student council was on my radar.
The deck was stacked against me from the beginning. The first was being in Middle School, the second was being a foreign kid with no English, and the third was the lack of knowledge being a foreign kid in middle school. So I went to my English teacher and mentioned my interest in running for the student council position. She was proud to hear this. As part of the election process, you have to speak in front of your class and share why you want the position.
The feeling that came to me knowing that I had to make a speech was indescribable. I had to slay the dragon to get to my goal. The day came, and it was go-time. My name was called, and I made my way to the front. I vividly remember this like it was yesterday. I can still see the old-school projector I walked past to glue myself in front of the writing board.
We were given a template to follow. State your name, the role you were running for, and why you were interested. I did the first two in a quiet voice, and the whole atmosphere was silent that I could have whispered, and they would hear me. It was time to share the meat of the message.
I can't recall if I was breathing. I stared into the crowd and mustered every nerve that I could, and muttered with my broken English,
“I want to make a difference”
The rest of the day was blurred. I heard the biggest laugh as if I landed a punch line in a comedy set. They all laughed at me, and the embarrassment I felt was like no other. Time froze for a moment. I slowly walked back to my seat through the sea of laughter. Middle School could be the meanest place in the world.
I knew why they laughed, but for some reason (I believe truth at work), It didn't linger too long. I think overcoming the speech was already a huge hurdle, and the reaction became secondary. I don't remember my opponent, but I ended up getting the role.
My life's trajectory is at a place I could have never imagined. My internal compass points me in the right direction, and I take action. The truth in that is no secret. The attempt is critical here. The outcome becomes a huge wall only if that's your focus. We went over future thinking in Part 7 on how we spent too much time looking forward, and by doing that, all challenges from the future start growing in our heads enough that it restricts our present decisions.
Truth produces a reality to pursue. Your job is to act despite the outcome you might dwell on.
How to know where your head is at?
If you are ever in a situation where the statement "what would people think?" comes up, then your truth is not your base foundation. This is giving power to the embarrassment. You are in prison by a future reaction from strangers. If one can overcome this alone, then true freedom will be available.
The above understanding indicates a lot about us. Other people don't limit us; the idea of their thoughts in our heads is the culprit. Again we are highlighting the biggest fear we will face, ourselves.
We have tons of examples of freedom of action. Kids do a great job showing us that we can have fun just by having fun and spending zero minutes thinking about what others might think. Until they get to middle school, where reactions are loud and visible but listening to your inner self and acting on it, as my story demonstrated, truth is already protecting your precious core.
We will explore further in part 9.
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