It’s been an hour since I started thinking about what to write this week. Yes, most of these are planned out way in advance, but usually not these personal ones. I danced around the idea of dedicating the whole thing to either my toon idol Jane Lane or my favorite foul-mouthed kid, Kyle Broflovski. I obviously decided against that because it looked like both were going to end up being a list made up of GIFs, and while I know that’s the most awesome thing out there (I see you Buzzfeed and I’m trying to wean myself off your addicting ways), I didn’t want to settle on that. So after over an hour and even while writing this, I decided to talk about a life lesson I walked away with after watching Monsters University.
Growing up, my favorite Disney characters were an array of princesses and talking critters, and then in walked Mike Wazowski. Now, he wasn’t atop my list right away. I found him to be a delight in Monsters, Inc. but it wasn’t until after seeing his beginnings I fell head over heels for him and his story that ultimately led me to a new life mantra.
For those unaware, I’ll give you the rundown of Mike’s existence: it was his childhood dream to be a scarer. Once in college he was quickly told that nope, that wasn’t for him. He wasn’t scary enough. After he proved himself he didn’t complete his time at University, but took a job at a company where he was still not a scarer but the assistant to one. Ultimately he was the driving force in realizing that screams were not as valuable as laughs. So basically he was told he couldn’t do something his whole life because he didn’t fit in the box, but he managed to overcome every time doing things his way. Mike never compromised who he was and stood as tall as he could to reach the top.
How’s this apply to my hermit life? Well, I’m not a real adult by any means if we’re talking about the career department. Ever since I walked into this “grown up” realm I’ve watched those around me continue to succeed with jobs. I’m like, are you serious — another promotion here, great coworkers there, vacation time a plenty. Meanwhile I’m a low end blogger who can only dream of the day she’ll get her big break and not blow it. I have to assume I’m just taking a longer path to get to success — one paved with many late night tear fests and self-doubt. Anyways, I always knew being a little different from the pack was okay but Mike Wazowski gave me something to relish in: don’t let being different scare you from being the greatest.
I may not have a traditional job, and I’m pretty sure I never want to sit in an office with set times ever again, but that doesn’t mean I have to look down on myself and my life choices. I may be a low end blogger, but dammit — I’m going to be the best one there is and then some. I can’t continue to compare my life to others because we’re different people. What’s success to you may not be for me. So here’s to being different and being the greatest at it. Life’s hard and you’re going to struggle, but you don’t have to change who you are to get to the top.
Next week we’ll close this out with a top 10 and I’m in between two so you’ll just have to be surprised!
