Do you not believe in yourself?

I know I don’t. Not most of the time. Neither did this guy.

Yes, there are cases where people put their work out there, and it isn’t good enough. There are also voices that will never be heard, because we see others failing and we assume the same will happen to us. You have people in your life saying you have talent, and you want to think they are biased. You want to ignore them. You have other people saying you don’t have what it takes, and you think this is tough love, that they know the truth of it. It’s easier to listen to the latter than the former, sometimes.

Dare to fail, people. I dare to fail every day. Sometimes I do fail. But stuffing that application into an envelope and tearing it up year after year like this young man did is a far greater travesty. If you make a fool of yourself, the world will move on. And so will you. But if you succeed . . . well, the world will stop for a moment and take notice. And neither you nor them will ever forget that.