You're Either With Me or You're Not

Spotlight. Something that everyone wants so badly that they are willing to steal it from any person in order to gain attention. Any ounce of success has to be shared with someone else, or it's considered selfish. It's now selfish to take the credit for something that you did, when everyone else didn't believe that you could....sounds weird, right? To top it off, with every ounce of failure, you are left in an abyss of loneliness and despair. No one wants to share the bumps in the road. Everyone just leaves you in the dust. They say, I told you so. And, you are just a loser-- so much potential gone to waste. 

People will expect to be thanked. People will say that because of them you succeeded. Why is that? It's as if they don't want to be embarrassed by you, like a competition of who can be the best in life. Or like a pageant, some might say, where everyone is trying to promote themselves as the best friends, or even parents. Everyone else sees other people achieving amazing things without you, and suddenly everyone is telling you to give up on your dreams. When you are struggling, all the praise is silenced. When everyone else leaves, the confidence can only come from you. Various tapes of insults play on repeat, and it starts to become your motivation. You realize that you are putting in all your hard work, for someone else. You are doing all of this just to get recognition and appreciation from that one person. Meanwhile, that one person only sees you when you win. Otherwise, they don't really understand how hard you work or how long it takes to finally stand out. They think winning is easy for you and it can be done in every single attempt.  

Sure, you are going to get guidance and help along the way but in the end it is up to you. Your actions speak louder than your words and you must be careful to remain honest to yourself. You don't have to continuously prove to the world that you are getting your work done, as long as you are proving it to yourself. I encourage you to ignore all of the negative comments, as hard as it might be. You don't have to take it from them, and don't let it get in your way. You don't have to surrender. You are your own incredible individual, and you are on track for a beautiful future. 

And don't worry, you are not selfish. You will know when people were genuinely helping you succeed, and when people were only motivated to help you for recognition in the future. When I win, it will be for me, and absolutely no one else. 

-N