I saw a clip on TV the other day that brought something home to me. I watched as a man who had somewhat fallen from grace shared his expertise with the world.
Were people probably watching and mocking him? Sure. Were others using his downfall to make themselves feel better? Of course. Does any of that change the fact that his contribution to the conversation was so valuable that he was asked for his opinion? No.
What have you done that made you want to hide? Did you give in to that feeling? Are you in that position now? Think about the value you bring to the world – to your family, friends, community, job, wherever you give your best. Is your pride worth robbing them of that value?
Pride? Yes, pride. I’m not pretending there aren’t other emotions involved (genuine remorse, shock at ourselves, fear, etc.), but let’s talk about pride right now. You’ve done it or said it, true, and you can’t change it, but you can accept it, accept the consequences, ask forgiveness, and make amends where possible… and you can still bring value to the world. You can choose to move through the stares and whispers until you eventually move past them, because life involves mistakes, and how we choose to handle them is entirely up to us.
Life involves mistakes. How we choose to handle them is entirely up to us.
But there’s more to this story. This man became so good at what he did that his expert opinion couldn’t be overlooked. Are you becoming better at your ‘chosen things’ every day? I’m not talking only about jobs and careers here. I’m talking about your passions and interests – the things you get excited about. The topics you can spew information about at the least mention. The ways in which you can produce beauty from places, situations… from nowhere, and amaze others. The time you put into nurturing relationships. Our ‘chosen things’ are as diverse as we are. Become so good at your chosen thing that your opinion is always relevant. We can all be experts at something. We just have to value ourselves, our talents and skills enough to recognize our areas of expertise.
We are all experts at something. Value yourself.
We will make mistakes – and maybe even huge ones. Own up to them, make them right where possible, learn from them, accept the consequences – short term and long term, and keep moving forward. The world needs what you bring to the table.
What’s your “chosen thing”?
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