How one reader’s negative response changed my self-perception
A recent story of mine has been receiving a lot of attention on Medium. In fact, at 3.8k reads and 500 recommends (and counting) it’s my most popular story yet. But with the loving reader responses also come the less than loving replies.
Criticism is the condition of every creative.
One particular reader’s response caught my attention. At only 5 words long, there wasn’t much to it, but in one simple statement he’d cut straight down deep into my growing wound of fear and self-doubt.
Ouch. Burn.
At the tender age of 27, I’d been questioning myself, who am I to be advising people on how to live their lives? How can I encourage people to go out and chase their dreams when I am still very much trying to figure out what my dreams even are?
I haven’t walked down the aisle, seen my firstborn’s very first smile, climbed to the top of the career ladder only to topple right off.
I haven’t travelled the entire world from shore to shore, suffered the loss of a loved one or been strangled by the deathly grips of debt.
I haven’t bought a house, fixed a broken home, and suffered a broken heart never to be mended.
I haven’t lived enough of my life to help others to live theirs.
Perhaps I should rather wait until I’m 60 when my eyes twinkle with wisdom and my face is lined with a lifetime of experience, before I give advice to others on how to live a happy existence.
Wrong.
Don’t wait.
For anything.
—
Don’t ever tell yourself that you aren’t ready to make a change in this world. No matter how small that ripple may be or how sharp the spears of criticism flung back at you.
Waiting until 60 to do anything with your life is most likely the worst advice you will ever hear. It’s just as outdated as the notion of retirement itself. Waiting until you are older to have the time and means to live the life you have always wanted.
No, I want to live that life now. And I want to help others to live their lives the way they want too. Right now.
So yeah I am still in my 20’s with a really long road ahead but who’s to say I will be any more wiser when I get to the end of it? Age is not a measure of wisdom, nor is it a measure of self-power.
So thank you reader for helping me to change my self-perception, for showing me that I have been wrong in doubting myself all along.
If I can bring a smile to the face of just one person or even an inkling of hope on how to live a happier life, my job here is done. And little life experience that I have, I’ll be on to the next.
Ready for lift off? Head to Dreamer Do to get your dreams off the ground.
❤ Enjoyable read? Hit recommend- help others start living their dreams too. ❤
