A Personal Endorsement from atop the Soapbox

I was digging through some old stuff the other day when I came upon a folder with memorabilia from my high school days. One of the items was an award I won my junior year. The award came from a collection of ‘spoof’ awards much like the, “Most Likely to…” awards given out at the end of high school.

The certificate was entitled, “The Soapbox Award” with my name printed on the recipient line. Much to my surprise, apparently throughout the school year I had an opinion on just about everything which I never hesitated to share with everyone.

I admit, as times change the more they stay the same. Although I’m sure many of my opinions have evolved over the years I recognize that I still can’t seem to refrain from sharing them with the world.

Is this a gift or a curse? I think both. Believe me when I say I understand the weakness can be a significant strength at times and vice versa.

I’ve wondered if my elaborate verbosity is a detriment to personal development. For example the way some people who are not confident in who they are will try and mask the lack of confidence in many ways. Often, they will make excuses and justifications to align with their own expectations or even the expectations of others.

It made me think about the time I've spent trying to be something according to someone else's ideas. Sometimes it's been my parents, sometimes it's been girlfriends, and sometimes it's been people in position of authority. Either way, it always fails. When I work on me, and not worry about everyone else, and it seems that the light always goes on. Trying to live up to others ideals will always end in defeat. Like trying to live up to what my parents expected of me, rather than what I expected of me. The parents gave a great start to it, but ultimately it is by my decisions and choices that I find the greatest happiness.

I liken this thought to people and golf balls. Sometimes you’re out on the course and while searching for your ball you get lucky and will find a very nice, expensive ball like a Titleist ProV1. Other times you may find Top-Flite. Which for those of you aren't golfers, are a less expensive, less productive ball. (in my opinion – crap)

But the most disappointing feeling is to see a Titleist, pick it up, only to find that it's an X-OUT. Now an X-OUT is a ball that is rejected by quality control. There was a flaw in the production. The golf ball company will still sell these at a discount though they aren't reliable as to trajectory, spin, or a number of other factors on the golf course. The ball looks the same as the ProV1 with the exception of a small print on the side that says X-OUT. This reminded me of the fact that things are not always what they seem. You can think that you're playing with the best, when underneath the surface of the ball there are considerable flaws that will never be fixed. (also can be likened unto dating.)

I pride myself on being the type of person that what you see is what you get. I believe that being genuine is a form of honesty. When one is not genuine they are not honest.

Of course if you don’t like what you see, no big deal. Everyone has agency. What I think people sometimes forget is that we’re all people. Fallible as we all are we often fail to realize that the majority of individuals are inherently good; all striving to make correct decisions in life and promoting positive personal progression.

Granted, in my individual growth I should probably follow the advice of Mark Twain when he said, “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” But I would also advocate the famous line from ‘Transformers’ and encourage you to realize that often times there is ‘more than meets the eye.’ (or mouth in this case.)