I don't know if this is one of those things where the older I get the wiser I get, or maybe I'm more comfortable with myself now so I don't feel the need to go down these roads any more.  What I'm talking about is 'being challenged to do something.'

I used to be the guy who, if you wanted me to do something, just bet me I couldn't  The sad part is, there usually wasn't any reward, it was just a simple bet.  It was a need deep inside me to 'prove myself' to other people.  I had to show them that they were wrong and that I could do anything I put my mind to.  I'm not claiming this part of me has fully gone away, I still enjoy a good challenge every now-and-then, but recently I see others making the same choices I used to and I think to myself, 'ugh is that, or was that me?'

I heard a commercial on the radio the other day where a woman was trying to empower other women.  She said the same old tune, 'tell me I can't do something and I'll show you I can.'  Then in the background you hear a bunch of other women cheering for her and her 'can do' attitude.  What I'm wondering is what kind of message are we sending when we hear or do things like this?  Is it truly a positive one?

Growing up my parents were always very supportive of me.  They always instilled the idea that 'I can do anything I put my mind to.'  Great values in my opinion, especially in a day in age where more and more people seem to be willing to give up before even trying; and where failure is now looked so far down upon instead of being realized as an act of trying to accomplish.

My question is, where did we find the need to prove that point to other people?  I know I can do anything I set my mind to, why do I feel the need to prove it to you?  In most, if not all cases, I don't even care about the task you are assigning to me.  It's not going to improve my life, and when it's all said and done, you're just going to give me a smile and say, 'I can't believe you just did that.'  Then we'll chuckle about it for a few minutes and then it's over.

If this is you my point is this, dig deep within yourself and ask yourself why you do these things.  Are you simply looking for attention that you aren't normally getting?  Or is there some other need deep within you that isn't being fulfilled?  Maybe you should challenge yourself to fulfill that need first.  Or at the very least really consider the challenge.  Does it align with your own personal goals?  Will it improve your life in a meaningful way?  Will it at least improve others lives in a meaningful way?  What is the real reward you're getting out of this challenge?

In my own case I think it's just a simple need for attention.  Maybe I wasn't being taken serious enough within my own group of friends.  Maybe I just felt like I wasn't being heard.  In either case I think I just wanted the attention.


I think our new message should be something like this.  'YOU CAN DO anything you set your mind to!  But choose to do the things that are going to be MEANINGFUL to your own life, or the people's lives around you.'
If this blog hasn't changed your mindset then I want to throw out some challenges of my own for you...

1.  I challenge you to become truly happy.
2.  I challenge you to make other people's lives better.

Good luck and I bet you can't do it!