I used to believe in the absolute truth, a truth that will does not allow people with sullied intentions to sling mud on it. But this is 2011 and we are in the era where “my interests will always trump yours.”
The reason I have always looked up to Nelson Mandela is not because he was mistreated for more than three decades. It’s that once he was set free, he still spoke of the collective rather than the individual. It’s an attitude I have tried to emulate since returning from Mandela’s land.
The past two weeks have been the ultimate test of that ideology.
Every day I try to put my time at the Tallahassee Democrat behind me. In the past 10 days I have also realized I need to put some people behind me as well, because like the Democrat their priority is their interests — regardless of the collateral damage to others.
My joy is to truly realize who is for me and who is just telling me that because it’s convenient. My joy is to play soccer on occasion and provide that one-touch pass that completely surprises and splits the defense. My joy is knowing that in the darkness, dawn— whenever it may come— is on the horizon.
It took separation from a job I loved, and a conversation with Whit’s dad, to realize that I am Will Brown, not “Will Brown with the Tallahassee Democrat.” In the late nights chasing stories I lost track of who I am and focused more on what I am, as though it was validation for the type of man I had become.
That probably happens with most of us, we are too preoccupied with what others perceive us to be or what we are and not who we are. It takes a special, or mature, person to intimately recognize who we are at our essence.
My challenge to you is to figure that out if you have not already. Because newfound free time and the ability to play soccer more freely are tolerable in small doses, but the absolute truth is I would much prefer to be working.
Laughs and liveliness,
-Wb
