Dapper Don
Don Juan
Today I had to speak for fifteen minutes on Malcolm X for a history class.
I had dreaded it all semester. It worried me for months, every time I thought about it I would feel a twinge of anxiety.
I had it all planned in my head about how I would mess up and say something completely stupid or just do mediocre and come off as a slightly below average jackass. My classmates would secretly revile me and my opinions.
At first, the morning of the presentation, I was completely messed up with fear. The kind of empy/knotted stomach pit feeling.
But I remembered everything I'd learned from the forums. I figured, what did it matter anyway? I don't care what some random nitwit thinks of my speech. I knew my subject, I had tried my best. I had my own approval, and that was all that ****ing mattered.
So I put the thoughts out of my head, trying to be as cavalier and uncaring as I could about it.
When it came to presentation time, I didn't give it a second thought. I just plunged in talking.
I freaking killed.
People were laughing, applauding, chuckling, and enjoying themselves. Most of the other presentations before mine sucked porpoise. But I actually entertained. People went out of their way to complement me after class. One girl even asked me for public speaking tips for own speech.
And here I thought I was going to fail. It turns out that, to be immodest, I am a natural public speaker. I loved it. The attention, the ability to say whatever I wanted and get many of the responses I wanted. And it was my first time. I had never spoken publicly before, really. What's else, I had nothing planned. I made it all up as I went along, and still made sense and gave the information.
My confidence has receive a permanent boost, because I know I can do easily and well something that others would consider death before attempting
So, my point? (apart from stroking my own ego a bit... I went on a bit long about how great I was, I know)
My point is that sometimes with things in life, especially DJ skills, you can think you suck and have no ability because you've never tried. You see somebody doing something you'd like to do and think, "gee, that'd be cool to be like that. But nah, I couldn't."
But try it because you might actually be way better than average at it. Who the hell knows? You never picked up a guitar, never thought to try. But one day you decide to learn a few scales and find that you have a natural, instinctive without training affinity for a mean, coherent blues solo or something. Or you never played football, knowing in your mind that'd you'd suck cause you considered yourself unathletic. And suddenly you find that if its even remotely shaped like a lemon, you can catch it from 80 yards.
Forget self-improvement for a moment. What if you already rock? You might have talents you'd never dreamed of. Here, I thought I was shy and reserved, but give me twenty minutes and an audience and I can make a dissertation on Malcolm X seem like standup comedy.
The point has already been made, I know. "Just Do It" for fvck's sake. Because not only will you improve on your weak points, you'll inevitably end up unearthing a whole new load of shighyte you never knew you were awesome at.
I had dreaded it all semester. It worried me for months, every time I thought about it I would feel a twinge of anxiety.
I had it all planned in my head about how I would mess up and say something completely stupid or just do mediocre and come off as a slightly below average jackass. My classmates would secretly revile me and my opinions.
At first, the morning of the presentation, I was completely messed up with fear. The kind of empy/knotted stomach pit feeling.
But I remembered everything I'd learned from the forums. I figured, what did it matter anyway? I don't care what some random nitwit thinks of my speech. I knew my subject, I had tried my best. I had my own approval, and that was all that ****ing mattered.
So I put the thoughts out of my head, trying to be as cavalier and uncaring as I could about it.
When it came to presentation time, I didn't give it a second thought. I just plunged in talking.
I freaking killed.
People were laughing, applauding, chuckling, and enjoying themselves. Most of the other presentations before mine sucked porpoise. But I actually entertained. People went out of their way to complement me after class. One girl even asked me for public speaking tips for own speech.
And here I thought I was going to fail. It turns out that, to be immodest, I am a natural public speaker. I loved it. The attention, the ability to say whatever I wanted and get many of the responses I wanted. And it was my first time. I had never spoken publicly before, really. What's else, I had nothing planned. I made it all up as I went along, and still made sense and gave the information.
My confidence has receive a permanent boost, because I know I can do easily and well something that others would consider death before attempting
So, my point? (apart from stroking my own ego a bit... I went on a bit long about how great I was, I know)
My point is that sometimes with things in life, especially DJ skills, you can think you suck and have no ability because you've never tried. You see somebody doing something you'd like to do and think, "gee, that'd be cool to be like that. But nah, I couldn't."
But try it because you might actually be way better than average at it. Who the hell knows? You never picked up a guitar, never thought to try. But one day you decide to learn a few scales and find that you have a natural, instinctive without training affinity for a mean, coherent blues solo or something. Or you never played football, knowing in your mind that'd you'd suck cause you considered yourself unathletic. And suddenly you find that if its even remotely shaped like a lemon, you can catch it from 80 yards.
Forget self-improvement for a moment. What if you already rock? You might have talents you'd never dreamed of. Here, I thought I was shy and reserved, but give me twenty minutes and an audience and I can make a dissertation on Malcolm X seem like standup comedy.
The point has already been made, I know. "Just Do It" for fvck's sake. Because not only will you improve on your weak points, you'll inevitably end up unearthing a whole new load of shighyte you never knew you were awesome at.
