I believe that many of us fall short of John Wooden’s statement “Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are”. I fall short often because of my concern with what other people think of me and my reputation through out my High School. Every day I face the choice of being true to myself or being a person I’m not so that I may be accepted by fellow students. I am sometimes very disappointed in myself because of the rejection I experience and yet I have remained true to who I am. I do the things I believe are right and I am not someone who will change who I am to be accepted, no matter how tempted I may be sometimes. It is on the days that I am truly myself, I feel the best about myself, and I know I can transcend above the thoughts of the people who make fun of the clothes I wear and ultimately the person that I am.
I believe that through these experiences of rejection, it has humbled me and built the character I have today. My biggest dream is to be in a band touring the world with music I’ve written. I have been playing guitar and singing since I was eleven years old and I just recently wrote my first song. To me, this gift is not something I use to boast, but I am thankful for it. Conceit is a very dangerous enemy of mine, as well as my lack of confidence in myself, it leaves me stagnant in the pursuit of my dream. I do not hide my talents, but it seems that even when I try to make them known, I am always second best to someone else and I feel discouraged. What I’m trying to say is each time I have failed, I have learned so much more in the beauty of my brokenness than I could have ever learned if I had just been known as the best to begin with. These failures are my blessings in disguise. I still am shocked by the little ways I have affected people. People that I never would have guessed have thanked me for who I am and how I am true to myself. Character may not be visible to you, but to others it is secretly touching their hearts.
I believe if you can surpass the failures of your life, instead of dwelling on the actual failure, failures become blessings in disguise and you have the ability to become stronger and humbled by it. Although many times we are beat down by our failures, finding the beauty of it is what brought me back to life, and it worked for me.