Confucius say:
Confucius say:
There's a tiny (although significant) difference between being told that you're going to do great things, and being told that you have the potential to do great things.
My big sister, Roslyn (or Rozie, for short), is 12 years older than I am. As such, she was an obvious role model and I worshiped the ground she walked on. She had boyfriends and a unique sense of fashion, and she crimped her hair and had layered bangs like the one girl in J. J. Fad. She was just amazing.
As a kid, I distinctly remember many people telling Rozie that she was going to be very successful in life. I believed them. She was already like a superhero to me.
And those people were right. She's not a celebrity or anything close to it, but the things she's accomplished are significant, especially in our family. She was the first in our family to get her Bachelor's Degree; she was a successful accountant before becoming the first black Director of Finance for the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association; she switches cars like she switches underwear; she has 2 relatively good kids and a good husband; she's got the money to take herself on mini-vacations whenever she pleases; and, generally speaking, she's got a great heart.
Now, I won't ever make the claim that I grew up in my sister's shadow because I didn't; I was a smart kid, and I'm the youngest of 4, and youngins usually get their fair share of attention. But I do know for a fact that, while she got the "You'll do great things" speech on a regular basis, I got the "You can do great things" speech. And there's a difference! I confess to lacking a few important values normally present in the making of a successful person:
Drive and confidence!
I just don't have the get-up-and-go ... the moxie... the extra umph she has. And I don't know if it's possible to "get" that. Either you have it or you don't. I'm very smart, and I think I've proved that to myself many times over. But intelligence is useless unless you apply it to something. But I still don't know what I'm passionate about. The things that I think I'm passionate don't necessarily make for a promising career. So...
Honestly and truly, I envy people like bricks_house, afropuff, _youaintright, and killacal, who have goals set in stone. You know what you want. And I know I'm young and I still have time to figure it out, but I feel like I should be there by now. Time is ticking.
Maybe I'm just lazy.
I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud.
There's a tiny (although significant) difference between being told that you're going to do great things, and being told that you have the potential to do great things.
My big sister, Roslyn (or Rozie, for short), is 12 years older than I am. As such, she was an obvious role model and I worshiped the ground she walked on. She had boyfriends and a unique sense of fashion, and she crimped her hair and had layered bangs like the one girl in J. J. Fad. She was just amazing.
As a kid, I distinctly remember many people telling Rozie that she was going to be very successful in life. I believed them. She was already like a superhero to me.
And those people were right. She's not a celebrity or anything close to it, but the things she's accomplished are significant, especially in our family. She was the first in our family to get her Bachelor's Degree; she was a successful accountant before becoming the first black Director of Finance for the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association; she switches cars like she switches underwear; she has 2 relatively good kids and a good husband; she's got the money to take herself on mini-vacations whenever she pleases; and, generally speaking, she's got a great heart.
Now, I won't ever make the claim that I grew up in my sister's shadow because I didn't; I was a smart kid, and I'm the youngest of 4, and youngins usually get their fair share of attention. But I do know for a fact that, while she got the "You'll do great things" speech on a regular basis, I got the "You can do great things" speech. And there's a difference! I confess to lacking a few important values normally present in the making of a successful person:
Drive and confidence!
I just don't have the get-up-and-go ... the moxie... the extra umph she has. And I don't know if it's possible to "get" that. Either you have it or you don't. I'm very smart, and I think I've proved that to myself many times over. But intelligence is useless unless you apply it to something. But I still don't know what I'm passionate about. The things that I think I'm passionate don't necessarily make for a promising career. So...
Honestly and truly, I envy people like bricks_house, afropuff, _youaintright, and killacal, who have goals set in stone. You know what you want. And I know I'm young and I still have time to figure it out, but I feel like I should be there by now. Time is ticking.
Maybe I'm just lazy.
I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud.