Discouragement is a test

When I was a teenager, I wanted to be a sports commentator. I enjoyed watching sports, and I liked talking, so that sounded like a sweet job. My family gave me a hard reality check: 

How many people were there on TV that looked like me? How often did such job opportunities open up? What made me so special that I should be broadcast?

When I heard those questions, I experienced discouragement and I gave up the idea of becoming a sports commentator right away. 

I used to feel really upset when I looked back on this moment. It felt unfair that I received so little support for my passion. If I’d gotten a bit of encouragement, who knows how far I could have gone? 

This scarring experience, amongst many others, fueled a years-long research topic for the book I’m writing now. That research and writing process has changed my perspective.

For starters, I didn’t even bother trying to challenge the questions, or do more research into the topic. Maybe that says something about how much—or how little—I really wanted to be a sports commentator. I’m sure if I dedicated myself, my family would have eventually come around.

Instead, my passion was tested and quickly extinguished. If I were genuinely that energized by that field, I would need to commit and push a lot harder.

If I could do it again, I would encourage myself not to give up so quickly. However, it’s not the worst thing that could have happened. Giving up such a fleeting passion freed me up to do things that I genuinely liked a lot more. 

For example, I started blogging around that age—and I haven’t stopped since. A lot of people have given me resistance along the way—even I’ve almost talked myself out of it!—and here I am, still typing away. I built my career on the things I learned from blogging, and I still enjoy learning through this medium a lot.

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