I am me: #003 - Stupid?

I've done many things in my life and some of them were absolutely stupid no matter my reasoning or thoughts behind them. Most of those things were done as a kid but even as an adult I'm able to put my hand up and with all honesty say, "yep, I've done some stupid fucken things."

Am I any different to anyone else? I don't think so. I mean seriously, can you sit there and say you've never done stupid things? If you said so I'd not believe you and know you were a liar.

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A lot of the stupid things I've done were harmless although my body suffered through pain so many times due my stupid decisions to jump my bike over something or take up some ridiculous challenge one of the neighbour-kids posed.

I also suffered a lot of punishment from my parents for the stupid things I did; that's ok too, I'll accept it because it was part of being a lad in a small country town in Australia - we were somewhat "rough and tumble" and pain, punishment and embarrassment became a good teacher.

Later, the stupid things I did were different, they had more serious and lasting ramifications, and getting it wrong meant serious injury or death and other such implications. But I still put my hand up for stupid things and went ahead; sometimes people need to do things that others look upon as stupid right?

I learned so much as a child but as an adult the learning compounded and those stupid things became less random and more calculated.

The risks I took had serious ramifications but what I learned along the way, all those stupid things I'd done, taught me how to plan, to strategise and to be versatile and flexible in thoughts and attitudes and my actions began to make more and more sense...become less stupid, even though others may have perceived them as stupid; people are quick to judge those doing things they themselves cannot, or will not, do.

I don't want to go into specifics but I've made decisions to leave one professional career for another when doing so didn't make any sense at all. I put together my own companies when doing so looked impossible, reckless and downright stupid, I've taken on challenges, missions and duties that others perceive to be fraught with danger and which may come with disastrous results and yeah, I've been called stupid...others thought I was. But was I?

What if the person who invented the wheel thought it was a stupid idea so why bother? What if the Wright brothers didn't take to the air in a craft that others thought was stupid, risky and dangerous? What if Marie Curie thought radioactivity and X-ray machines were stupid so decided against pursuing her research?

I'm sure people looked upon these people and said, "that's stupid and it will never work," and I'd say that the same has been said billions of times.

It was said to me many times as well and yet I succeeded and achieved at a high rate. One of my school teachers said I was, "stupid and would amount to nothing." OK, no worries...I'll own it. And yet, here I am fully educated at a high level, successful, financially independent, respected across multiple industries and business sectors and have led a meaningful and happy life...Stupid? Well, I'm sure someone still thinks so and that's fine by me.

Yep, I've done some stupid fucken things and probably will again, just like you have and will. It's human, and to think or say you've not been, or will not be, stupid is...well, it's fucken stupid.

Good things can happen when one pushes an establish boundary, exits their comfort zone, works harder than others, longer and with more focus. Sure, it's often easier not to...but great things don't always come from doing easy things...if it did everyone would be doing great things and they are not.

Yeah, I'm completely comfortable being me; that is, having a meaningful, fulfilling and happy life with solid relationships and a bright future. I'm also happy having people call me stupid and doing stupid things...it's across that line where the magic happens usually and quite often what people call stupid isn't that at all.