Believing in Yourself

It is interesting to observe how someone's death came move so many people. Naturally I am speaking about the passing of Michael Jackson.

Now, I would be fibbing to say that his passing did not touch me in some way. How could it not? His music fall in the "Soundtrack of My Life" catagory. In fact he had recorded so much, I forgot half of what he did and the walk down memory lane was neat.

I will also say that I have watched part of the coverage on him and even the memorial service (that was very touching by the way). I think that now I am done.

We have this "thing" going on in society. It has always been there even from the earliest days. We latch on to our "heroes" and live our lives through them. It is the truest form of escapism, we do not have to live our mundane less fulfilling lives if we revel in the greatness of another's. We have sold ourselves a crappy bill of goods right from the beginning!

In this past week, I have heard words like "icon" and "idol", both which are relating to religious symbols. The church of Michael Jackson? Really? I enjoyed his music but worshiping him? Not so much. Same goes true for Elvis, Princess Diana and even Princess Grace of Monaco. These were folks that lived out their gifts as far as they could. Should they be a kind reminder that the human condition can be successful? Sure. Should they be worshiped? No.

All the people that I used for examples, lived very turbulant lives. We all knew that. Overall they were human. They faced the extremes of the human condition via their gifts and they had a very hard time with it all. Was it because they were selfish and wanted more and more? No I really do not believe that. I believe that it is the world around them that let them down. We let them down.

While we cannot go back and change history, we can learn from it all. It seems a common condition that most successful people are plagued with "Yes Men." Other people around them, telling what they want to hear. Overall it is the failure of these "Yes Men" that causes all the trouble. These people, the ones that only feed the egos of the others they are doing themselves a greater disservice than the "greats." The "yes men" forget or even ignore that they are great themselves, but they might have to work at it a little harder. So they ride on the coattails of the "greats", sucking out whatever they can instead of living their lives and being a supportive human being.

Most in society are all "Yes Men." As long as we call the people with nurtured gifts "Idols" and "Icons" we are feeding the cause. Should we enjoy the fruits of their talents? Absolutely, they are the very expression of what we are here to do. Should we worship them to forget what we are missing in our own lives? No never.

We all have gifts, it is our birthright, from God. They are all special and unique and they all are needed in society. But anyone one person's gift should not be more important than another. Whatever the gift is, we should recognize it and nurture it to it's fullest.

While some might say that they are not a great orator like some, a great entertainer or any other notable profession, there is something special in each and every one of us that the world needs to know. You do not even have to put a name to it. You just have to cultivate yourself and let your self shine for all to see!

So while we should enjoy the demonstration of one person's gift, we should also be nurturing our own and demonstrating it for others. We can support others and they will support us and we can enjoy all of what everyone has to give, not just a chosen few.

At the end of the day we are all people, glorious souls with lights that are made to shine. Light them up people! Light them up!