Pride Guard

When the Surprise Wedding was released, the main thing that has changed for my wife and I was our entire lives (at least for the few short months we were getting called and flown out for interviews, book reviews and television shows).

We understand that life is but a vapor and we don’t put too much stock into any “fame” that may or may not come from our story. Nevertheless, we’ve gotten A LOT of encouragement from people from, literally, all over the world. This could easily lead to us believe that we are much more than we actually are.

I was doing a speaking engagement in Chicago and I invited some of my boys to come with me. At the end of my session, I left some time for Q & A and I was asked this question: “Ryan, how do you keep from getting a big head from all of this?”

Before I could even answer the question, one of my friends spoke up and shouted, “We wouldn’t let him! We’d smack him before he could get there.”

And all I could do to answer the question was point at him and say, “Yeah, what he said. Ha!”

It’s true. I would be scared to ever ‘arrive’ because my boys would tear me to pieces as soon as I ‘got there.’ The one thing to keep you from getting a big head… is having friends that will be your true friends regardless of your amount of success or failure.

Some of the most successful people in the world are the loneliest. When they get money, the people who want to be their “friend” have ulterior motives. They are surrounded by “yes” men and women who tell them what they want to hear. When you have real friends who aren’t your “friend” because of what you can do for them, it will keep you grounded.

And, here’s the most amazing opportunity that real friends afford you to have: accountability and normality.

Ryan