Who am I? I'm nobody.
I recently heard this line from the movie Rango. Rango, upon being caught in the web of deception, finds himself at the point of nothingness. For me, however, the problem with this line in the movie was that it RESONATED. I could feel it gnawing at my insides, asking me to believe it. I soon began asking myself the same question: who am I?
It was easy for me to relate to Rango. Especially at this point in my life, when the following phrases had become much too common (raise your hand if you hear this too):
"chosen to go in a different direction..."
"looking for someone with more experience..."
"decided to go with a more qualified candidate..."
"regret to inform you..."
"will not continue the application process with you..."
"good luck in your future endeavors..."
"we genuinely appreciate your interest in applying..."
"unfortunately..."
Sound familiar? It's easy to sum up rejection, but tough to mentally reject the sum. Have you ever done poorly when you were sure you would excel? Do you wake up in the middle of the night and realize you are sleeping alone? Have you ever been at such an end of your wits that anything puts you in frantic "why me" mode? Are you tired of hearing the phrase "it will all work out"? Do you ask yourself what might have been, over, and over, and over...
This is Dan in Real Life. Forget the movie.
Recently, I had a couple experiences that made me re-evaluate my personal script. I was feeling especially down, when a friend helped me realize all the positives I was missing. I doubt she fully realizes how much this meant to me. After all, it's easy to be down. It's easy to forget. It's easy to be a victim. Her optimistic words helped me refocus and reconnect to reality. And quite literally, all she had to do was smile and say things were going to work out.
A few days later, I had the opportunity to spend time with another woman in my life who I admire and respect greatly. She has every opportunity and excuse in this life to go through life with her feet dragging along the floor. It is her right. It is what the world would expect. But she doesn't. There is power behind her courage, strength behind her optimism, and it was humbling to witness. I became empowered by her presence, as I watched someone who appreciated and gleaned everything she could out of REAL, UNIMAGINED LIFE.
I guess that's why the movie bothered me so much. They tried to portray a person "in real life," but everything worked out in the end for him - in fact, it worked out for everyone.
This doesn't bother me anymore. Life has a strange tendency to work out for the better. Thanks to the love and encouragement I have seen from my friends lately, I once again see this.
Who am I? I'm somebody.
