Don't EVER tell me NO!

Have you ever been in a situation where someone has told you that you absolutely cannot do something? This is what happened to me recently, and I just, point-blank, find that type of assessment unacceptable. Dealing with an internal (yours) or an external (other people’s) lack of confidence is necessary in all areas of life. My experience, I think, can help me in the future when dealing with individuals who think that I can’t accomplish something. I’ll go back to one of the first experiences when I was told I couldn’t do something and draw some coping habits from that. 

When I was in 5^th grade, everyone that wanted to learn a musical instrument for 6^th grade band was mouthpiece tested to be sure that you could play the instrument you wanted. I REALLY wanted to play the flute. I mean, this was going to be my instrument, no if ands or buts. So I get tested and the instructor told me that “I don’t have the mouth to play the flute.” My reaction was WHAT?! I mean I got that we were being tested for a reason, but that I don’t have the mouth for it?! It sounded like a modeling audition to me! 

Well, I told my mom and was SO UPSET about it. I told her that I didn’t want to be in band anymore because that’s all I wanted to learn. And she said this: You can learn to play the flute; you may just have to work harder because of this mouth thing that your instructor highlighted. I was dumbfounded. I felt like the end of the world had come but my mom made it sound so simple. So my mom ordered a flute over the summer and I took some lessons beforehand to help me catch on. Well guess what? My instructor was wrong. I could play fine! The first day of class, my instructor saw that I was sitting in the flute section and I was pulled aside after class just to discuss my decision. She wasn’t upset or anything, she just wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting myself into. I showed her that I could play and had made the effort to learn ahead of time. From then on, this instructor and I had a very close relationship and she helped me learn and do as well as I possibly could. I even won medals at our State Solo and Ensemble competitions! Granted, I wasn’t the best flute player of all time; but I made it a point to be the best I could be. 

So from this experience, I learned how to deal with the dissenters of the world. Rather than get angry or upset about their lack of faith in you, PROVE to them that you can do it. There is that old adage that “you can do anything you set your mind to” and I firmly believe it. I understand that more work may be involved and that there may be a ceiling that you will probably hit, but that doesn’t mean to give up altogether at the beginning because of someone else’s assessment. My mom gave me that lesson rather early in life and I continue to use it even up to these past few weeks. 

So in light of this recent situation, I’m going for it. It helps that I already know that I can do it. I love challenges, so I challenge all of my readers to be sure to not let the “haters” get to you. I’ve actually found that the better you are at something, the more dissenters you will encounter. Rather paradoxical, huh? But leave them to “hatin’” and know that you can accomplish what you want and how you want. I leave you with this: HATERZ GONNA HATE!