Why Can’t It Be You?
By: Iheartless Soul B
Tags: Babies, Vaccines, Health, Life, Coronavirus

It’s got to be somebody.

Photo by BEERTA MAINI on Unsplash

How do you feel about mailboxes? I have always loved getting the mail. Now, I like getting the grocery store flyer so I know what kind of cheese is a dollar off a pound. But when I was a kid, I loved running down the driveway to see if my magazine had arrived yet.

3–2–1 Contact! was a print magazine for kids that was popular in the 1980s. It was the type of magazine that grandparents bought for their grandchildren, hoping it would inspire them to grow into astronauts or bioengineers.

I had a subscription for more than half a decade, and while I don’t remember any single article from the glossy pages, there was one section of the magazine that had a profound effect on me.

In each issue, there was a page titled ‘Kids Did It!’ Each page had three photos and a little blurb about kids doing remarkable things. It might include a teen who raised money for a cat shelter or a ten-year-old who kept playing soccer after losing her leg. Some kids started businesses, some were remarkably athletic and had shown a great deal of empathy by collecting blankets for pet shelters or growing vegetables for the local food pantry.

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As I got older and my world-view solidified in my head, I started to believe that there were two types of people: the kind of people who were featured in magazines and the kind of people who weren’t. And I was the kind who wasn’t.

While I still have never been featured in a magazine, I don’t think that way anymore.

At the end of my freshman year of college, I was meeting with my advisor. My grades were dismal, my outlook on life dreary. I wasn’t happy in my major and I hadn’t made good friends. As I was talking with my advisor, out of the blue, he suggested I apply for an internship program in New York City.

My instinct was to say no. Internships in NYC were for the type of people who get featured in magazines.

But I desperately wanted something to feel good about, so I went out on a limb and applied.

And guess what?

I got the internship!

I wish I could say it was life-changing and that it launched me into a wildly successful career, but that’s not true. I did OK at it, but not great. I learned, though, that opportunities aren’t just reserved for one ‘type’ of person.

Since applying for that internship, I’ve applied for dozens — even hundreds — of things. I’ve gotten a lot of rejections, but I’ve also had successes. I’ve gotten jobs on sailboats, in a dog salon, and at a college. I’ve entered raffles, radio contests, and road races. It’s not that I’m cocky or have an overflowing sense of self-confidence. But what I’ve realized is that someone is going to get those opportunities. So why can’t it be me?

And furthermore, why can’t it be you?

There is a lot of power in believing that an opportunity can be yours. First of all, it gives you the courage to try. If you don’t believe it’s possible for you to get that job, write that book or seal that deal, then you are far less likely to try. But if you open up your thinking, and believe that the thing you want could possibly come to you, then you are far more likely to try to get it.

I teach biology and I love teaching about body systems, and how all of us basically work the same way. We all have kidneys and intestines and brains and lungs. We’ve all got eyes and ears and a mouth and a big fat brain to process everything we sense about the world around us.

What we do with that information is our choice. So if you choose to believe that opportunities are for other people, you’re limiting yourself to a small life of disappointments. Change your thinking and you’ll still be disappointed some of the time. But you’ll also be delighted to find that you can be one of those people who does amazing things.

Changing your thinking can feel a little like jumping off a cliff into unknown waters. When I applied to my college internship, I was terrified. I worried that I’d get laughed at, that my application would get ignored or worse, that I’d get accepted and then fail miserably.

But none of those things happened. And if you’ve ever jumped off a cliff into cold, clear water, you know that you immediately want to do it again. And again.

A decade after my NYC internship, I read an article in the newspaper about a new charter school that was opening in my home state of New Hampshire. The mission and goals of the school were right up my alley, so I sat down and typed a letter to the director explaining why I should work there.

It was a bold move, especially since the school wasn’t even hiring. But guess what — I was right. And seven years later, I’m still working there.

It’s hard to change your thinking overnight. It’s hard to challenge long-held assumptions about who you are and what you deserve.

But start by thinking about what you want. Maybe you want to start a business, write a novel, seek a patent, or start a nonprofit. Someone is going to do all of those things this year. So why can’t it be you?

Look, it’s too late for all of us to get featured in ‘Kids Did It!” since it’s been out of print since 1985. But it’s not too late to recommit to chasing down your dreams. Yup, you might fall flat. But then — you might not!

So I challenge you to ask yourself:

Why can’t it be you?

And then — get to work.

Still feeling nervous? Try this:

In Praise of Beginners

If you have the courage to try something new, I salute you.medium.com