Pride

There is a certain feeling of pride when you do something that is really excellent or better than excellent. Sometimes it can come from something as simple as doing a good job of mowing the lawn. I know there are times when I’ve built something or written something that I can look back on as being excellent. There are a lot of not so excellent things in our lives so it becomes extra special when you really nail something. Its excellence can be enhanced when it draws admiration from others.

Sometimes we do things that seem to become more and more excellent as time goes by. I have students of some of my classes or people who were in the audience of talks that I’ve given who still contact me to keep me posted on their progress or ask for continued advice. At times I feel like a farmer who plants a crop in the brown dirt and suddenly one day the brown dirt seems to turn be cover with green growth. There is pride when you see your thoughts and actions turn into something much more.

My classes and talks usually have fewer than a hundred people in attendance. The last time I checked this blog had about 80 readers a day. So I do get my ideas out there, however it is only occasional where I feel like a particular article is excellent. I actually feel better about articles I write after they’ve been in the archives for a while.

I write this piece today because I heard an excellent song on the radio today. This song has been around for more than thirty years and has been heard by billions of people. I wondered what it must feel like to have one of your works get that much attention and have that much longevity. It must go beyond personal satisfaction especially when there are financial rewards associated with what you’ve done that makes one more independent and able to try for that sort of success again and again.