It always baffles me as to why people put things on pedestals. I can understand how it gets to that point, but I don't know why people continue to view things like they are the must have, great, powerful thing. Like I know that you look up to some one who has a greater skill and it is great to have them as a role model and some one to look up to, but anything beyond that is over the top. Once they put it on a pedestal, it becomes unattainable to the person because it stops being something that can be achieved and ends up becoming this great, mystical object that just can't be reached. If something becomes "over idolized", you won't be able to get it. I think you have to take a down to earth approach and view it not so high that it is sitting up on a pedestal that is out of reach, but not so low that it takes minimal effort, if any at all. Everything is always going to require hard work in life. That is just the way things tend to be. It will just make the hard work and effort easier if you have a certain point of view on whatever your goal may be.
I have a couple situations in my life currently that can apply to this whole concept of view points. I am a junior and with Senior year coming soon, I have been thinking about colleges I want to apply to. I keep it no secret that I fully plan on at least applying to Stanford University and I have received some not so nice and encouraging messages because of it. People have shared with me that they believe I am not "The Student" with the great transcript and qualifications as those that have been previously chosen to attend the school. But to this I kind of say... Forget You! haha, but I don't create a pedestal for that perfect Student because what makes them so different than me. Sure I don't have all the crazy classes I could take in High School that would make my transcripts amazing, and I probably won't get a perfect on my SAT, and I am not involved in every single thing that goes on around town, but I think that would be a little boring if you were the absolute perfect student. Every one has strong areas and weak areas, and that is what makes us different. It brings a variety and mix to the population, and I believe that I have more than enough variety to bring to the table to make me an attractive pick.
Another area I apply this to is my bass skills. As a musician, influences are a very needed thing, and one of my major ones happens to be Esperanza Spalding, who won the Grammy for Best New Artist. I think that she is an absolutely amazing musician and I love all of her music, and hope that I may possibly reach that level of skill. The minute I put her on a pedestal and think of her basically as a "bass goddess" is the minute I'm going to shut off towards this aspiration of mine. If I believe she is to amazing to match in skill then I'm going to start to wonder why I would even try to be as good as her, compared to if I were to keep her in my head as just another person who has gone through similar situations to what I have experienced, I automatically think that there is a very strong possibility that I could reach that level. Now I'm not saying that it isn't going to take a lot of hard work, it is going to take more hard work than I have, but it is do-able as long as I keep my current mindset and don't idolize her.
So it is 3:15 in the morning, so I think I am going to go to sleep. I got enough out to make a point and will definitely have more coming up soon. I think my thoughts led me to a nice topic to discuss and you can definitely expect more blogs on the way. This was sort of a warm-up/stretching post for those to come. Anyways... Thank you, and good night!
P.S. I think I came up with a good Title, how does "Having The Mindset" work? I think it fits nicely with the story. So thank you for reading again!
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