KevBurnsJr

We like to think that we are nobodies. We live our lives surrounded by nobodies, bombarded with images of somebodies. We like to think that there is some inherent quality in cover girls and governators that we ourselves do not possess.

If we’re lucky, we’ll have someone in our life to tell us otherwise. Someone to remind us that we can be whoever we want to be. That anything is possible.

But who am I? I am just another nobody.

If only I were him.

And that’s where it ends.

It’s a pattern that will repeat, over and over. Different icon, different day. Mark Andreesen, Brad Pitt, Jerry Rice, Steven Segal, Peter North, Donald Trump, if only I were him. Then I would be happy.

And that’s where it ends.

Few and far between are the nobodies who truly and honestly wouldn’t change their place in life for any other in the world. Shrugged off in conversation as a sappy non-answer, the pursuit to build meaning in one’s life is no longer considered by most to be a worthy pursuit.

Then someone reminds us that we are exactly who we are, and we can be whoever we want to be.

The paradox of course is that it’s only after one has relinquished his desire to become somebody else that he can he truly become himself. To walk one’s path without knowing where it leads is the daily struggle for greatness amongst those intent on changing the world. Happiness a worthy pursuit only in so much as it serves to fulfill one’s dreams.

Is there something in the world that you would like to change?