They said I'm going nowhere Tried to count me out Took those sticks and stones Showed 'em I could build a house They tell me that I'm crazy But I'll never let 'em change me Till they cover me in daisies Daisies, daisies
"It's a song for all of the dreams you've been dreaming about, and all the things you wanna achieve, ..this song is kind of about doing that, about going and getting your dreams, and not letting anyone or anything stand in your way." - Katy Perry.
Although Katy Perry is expressing it in a very different way, the song is about not letting in the haters (as well as those really well-meaning people you have heard in your life) who are telling you not to aim too high because well that’s for other people just not you.
People who are from better backgrounds who went to private schools, people with names like Windsor and who aren’t migrant kids with names that don’t really fit in like Mastrippolito, taller people, better looking people you know other people, just not you.
And when you fail which undoubtedly everyone does many times before they became an "overnight success", they will all be there shaking their heads telling you well I told you so, that’s for other people just not you.
And there will be sticks and stones and words that actually do hurt you, but as Katy says who "took those sticks and stones and showed them I could build a house", show them what you can do with those sticks and stones. And it doesn’t have to be a grand house or a big house, it just has to be your house, your dreams and your life.
“Always stay true to yourself and never let what some else says distract you from your goals.” Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama wrote in her memoir, “Becoming,” that one of the most pivotal moments in her life was when a college counsellor told her she wasn’t “Princeton material.” Maybe she wasn’t Princeton material because she was too black, her family was too poor or she was too female.
Michelle Obama decided to disregard the counsellor’s opinion and apply anyway. And she got in. When she started at Princeton, she says she learned that she was just as smart as everyone else, despite what she had been led to believe.
We think we are defined by how we look or by our background or by our past and by the decisions that have been made before us.
Sometimes, you will be reminded over and over again that’s how the world works.
Sometimes, you will be told over and over again by well-meaning people that you haven’t got what it takes and like those sticks and stones those words will hurt you and you will become disheartened.
Do not let them or their words have power over you. While all these things have been defined for us, our future is for us to define.
You decide how your story ends, you create the vision and if the pathway is not clear for you because you are different, find a new way. Find a new way to take the things that you do have, your ability, your talent, your "differentness" and make something that it is so special and unique, that people cannot help but notice you.
You are the only one who decides what you can achieve.
You are the only one with the real power to define your future happiness.
You are the only one who can take those sticks and stones and show them what you can do.
You can build a house, and it doesn’t have to be a grand house or a big house, it just has to be your house, your dreams and your life.
Comments