I AM somebody!

I love funky music and I think some of Bruno Mars songs have a really good rhythm. I was listening to one of them some time ago, which although it is not a funky one, it´s old and it’s for children, it´s also very nice. The name of the song is “Don´t give up” and he was singing it with Sesame Street. The first part of if says:

When you wanna do something that’s new.
And it seems really, really hard to do.
You feel like quitting, you feel you’re through.
Well I have some advice for you.

Don’t give up, keep on trying,
Y’all gonna make it (ah yeah) don’t give up.
Don’t ever quit, try and try and you can do it, don’t give up.

I am sure this has crossed our minds many times during our existence, hasn’t it? And this is a great problem because we are on this planet to learn new things, and it is obvious there are way too many things to learn! We also have another problem, we do not have enough confidence in ourselves, we almost forget our enormous potential, unconsciously underestimating it and this sometimes makes us feel like quitting once we are facing our first challenge. This week, when reading an article from Patricia T. Holland, an American writer, I learnt many things. One of them: I AM somebody!

In her article, she quoted Marilyn Funt, who wrote the book “Are You Anybody?”. Some people from Hollywood asked her if she “was anybody.” In answer she said:

I used to think being somebody meant public recognition of one’s efforts. Wrong. I now know that the feeling of being somebody comes from hard work and self-growth. Being in control of my life makes me answer that question with a strong “Yes!” [New York: Pinacle Books, 1981]

If someone would ask me that same question now, my answer would be exactly the same as Marilyn Funt´s, a resounding YES! My hard work during many years of my life and how much I have grown -needless to say I´m still growing! – make me feel “anybody”. New things are hard to do, we may feel bizarre to get out of our comfort zone but also many things not precisely new are hard to accomplish as well and despite this, how nice is the feeling once you keep trying until we can do it, and conquer victory at the finish line!

As an athlete, I was always advised by my coach not to look back when running but maintain my sight in the finish line because that would make me take more time in my sprint. I agree with this. In our lives, I think it is the other way round. I strongly believe it is sometimes important to stop for a minute in our race and look backwards to see all the way we have been through, all the challenges we´ve faced and all the achievements we have reached. Then, move forward with even more energy because we have been growing up thanks to the lessons learnt during many years.

The experience gained comes from the so many times someone has told us or hinted we “cannot do that” and we proved we could. It could have even been that little voice in our minds. But as long as we are on the way, we can do anything! I can do anything! When I was a teenager, it was my dream to visit different countries and now, at 61, I have lived in four countries and visited many beautiful places in the world.

Every single day when I wake up, I express my gratitude for experiencing another day, I am thankful for everything I have, I thank for the long and hard road I have walked and where it is taken me, ask for strength to continue one day more and finally I make Louis Armstrong´s words mine:

I see trees so green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you.
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies so blue and clouds so white.
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night.
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Shall we sing together?