Overcome and seize life

I watched a movie this weekend that I have seen many times before. However, this time the movie hit me in a different way. 

The movie, Chasing Amy, is directed and written by Kevin Smith. Smith is well known for his other films, Clerks, Mallrats, Jay and silent Bob Strike Back, Dogma and Jersey Girl. 

In this movie, the main character, played by Ben Affleck, has fallen for a woman who is attracted to other women. Her character, played by Joey Lauren Adams, in turn falls in love with him. 

Without going in to a lot of detail about the film, Ben Affleck's character becomes conflicted when he feels inadequate in the new found relationship. 

This is what got me thinking - how many times do we feel inadequate in our lives for no reason. Well, no reason than our own self absorbed preconception of how we should be. 

Think about it, how many times have you thought, "I am not good enough," or "I can't compare to so and so?" 

I know I have thought it. I think we all have, on some level at least. 

But then there are those that don't. There are those who aren't afraid to grab live by the you-know-whats and really go for it. When you think about it, those are the most successful people. 

Truth is, they all had thoughts of inadequacies at one time or another, too. They all thought the self inhibiting thoughts that many of us think. The difference? They didn't let it control them. 

Instead they shoved those thoughts aside and went for it. They proved to the world, and ultimately themselves, that they weren't inadequate. 

Do they always succeed? No. Do they give up? Well, the most successful people don't. 

I can honestly say that I have accomplished things in my life that I never thought I would. The reason I was able to do it was because I fought back the feelings and the fear and pushed through. 

However, there is a lot that I haven't done and want to. So there is still some stuff to overcome.

Have you ever seen the web series, Failure Club? It kinda goes along with the whole course of this column. It's a series about people overcoming and accomplishing, whether they fail or not, what they want to do. 

I think I have said enough for this week. Allow me to wrap this up with a quote from the late Steve Jobs.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”