What other people think
People have a conflicted view when it comes to what “other people think”. Sometimes a person will say “I don’t give a sh*t what people think”; but its said with so much anger and resentment that I have to wonder whether that’s really the case. Unfortunately, it does matter what people think, especially since their view tends to spread, infect others, and can cause you problems down the road. However, one can go too far in either direction- being overly sensitive to other’s perception of you can be as damaging as being indifferent to it.
Playoff seasons in professional sports interests me as much for the exciting games as the braindead commentary. Few topics bring out the inner moron more than sports discussions. One of my favorites is when a team is eliminated and a commentator says, “[Player X] let everyone down again. He’s overrated and it’s a season that ends in failure again. If you don’t win the championship, hang your head, chump.” It reminds me of Talladega Nights with Will Ferrell; where Rickie Bobbie’s dad tells him “If you’re not first, you’re last”. Rickie Bobbie lives with this axiom in mind. Later he tells his dad that he lives by these words and his dad says, “I said that? That’s pretty stupid. You could come in second, third, or fourth.”
Some people find Dan Quayle ridiculous. Whatever one may think, I was impressed that after years of being a chief butt of political jokes, and thought by many to be an embarassment and a dunce, he had the chutzpah to run for President in 2000. Through his actions he said, “Whatever you think of me is wrong. I don’t believe it.” He never could have won, but that may not have been the point. His self-confidence survived almost universal disdain.
I don’t know what its like to be at Dan Qualye or Pauly Shore level of contempt. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to end up in that position; just as some A-list celebrities may muse in disbelief and wonderment on how they “arrived”, Pauly Shore must wake up some days and ask what he did to deserve to become a national laughingstock. Yet society demands such role players at all times. I have, however, been on the receiving end of critical remarks- some made in a very public fashion. Wired Magazine essentially called me a fool for my last business venture and wrote that I had no business plan in mind for my company. (As a cherry on top, they wrote that I did not “return calls requesting comment”. I never received a call prior to the article being written and published.) There were several other pieces in lower profile media outlets along these lines as well. If you have never given your all for something, and truly lost sight of the shore to discover new lands, one may not relate. I have never looked at start-ups in purely impersonal, mathematical terms. I have always perceived them as Steve Jobs views his creations, a process of creation - and I take responsibilty to bring them to life and then shepherd them as best as I can.
Many aspects of life are a highwire act. You must walk a fine line between accepting responsibility versus internalizing a highly negative and often exaggerated critiques.
