I’ve always been a bit on the ‘special’ side, since as far back as I can remember. And by ‘special’ I do mean ‘special’!
My sister and I fondly call ourselves dorks on a regular basis, and wear the label proudly. Heck, I’m surprised we don’t have special t-shirts made by now that we wear in public.
With afore mentioned pride.
And brightly colored too!
I’m not certain just where I got this silly side to me, but I’m grateful for it.
It allows me to see the fun and humor in almost any situation (even if it takes awhile) and it feeds my streak of independence and contrariness voraciously… a bit like throwing fish slop in with sharks.
And my independent, contrary streaks are what have gotten me where I am today, with a healthy dose of ‘dork’ and ‘special’ thrown in for good measure. Oh and a little help from a proverbial red metal Louisville Slugger.
See, These Days I Call Myself a Writer
A freelance copywriter if you want to be all techie.
But it wasn’t always so. I used to call myself a vacation home cleaner and that was totally WAY less fun and WAY less lucrative.
But as I said, I was silly, independent and contrary, and determined that there was a better way (at least for me) to make a living in this world and support my family. And I was convinced I could do it online and skyrocket from rags to riches.
Well, I achieved the better way part, the online part, and the supporting my family part… but the skyrocket from rags to riches is a work in progress!
Albeit a very determined work in progress… my independent streak just wouldn’t let me have it any other way.
So…
Independent & Contrary… a Good Thing?
Hells yeahs!
Well those traits can be a good thing, when used wisely. Read on grasshopper.
OK, so remember how I said I’ve always been a bit ‘different’ from the rest of the kids in the class? I was different because my independent streak refused to let me be like everyone else around me.
And Ms. Contrary backed up Ms. Independence with a baseball bat. A hefty red metal Louisville Slugger to be exact.
Think two imaginary twin chicks with short spiky hair, purple hot pants, and a beautiful red metal Louisville Slugger moving in unison one behind the other.
Can you see it? Got the picture now?
When the ‘cool’ kids were dressing preppy and shopping at the mall, I was wearing black leather pants, rainbow toe socks, and shopping at thrift stores. I redefined ‘cool’ to fit me.
And when the ‘cool’ kids were partying and downing keggers after football games, I was sneaking into nightclubs and dancing my little heart out till the sun came up.
Of course, as I grew older my priorities changed.
I had kids and started a family; I worked and went to school and did all the things I was supposed to do. But my independent and contrary streaks never left me.
They stayed simmering just below the surface of my emotional psyche and constantly goaded me into finding that better way I mentioned.
Despite people telling me that working from home was a pipe dream. Despite being told that wanting to work from home was ‘lazy’. Despite being told that everything online was simply a scam.
Ms. Contrary and Ms. Independence were having none ‘o that!
So I kept reading, and learning, and searching for what I wasn’t exactly sure. But eventually I found it and it morphed into a snowballing freelance writing career that I am extremely proud of. And of course a blogging journey that I can be proud of as well.
But I only found these things because of good ole Ms. Independence and good ole Ms. Contrary.
See neither of them has ever met a rule they didn’t live to break.
And that’s exactly what they did my whole life long… broke rules and thought patterns and habits that were holding me back from where I wanted to be. You could say they were like rebel dreamers, refusing to back down.
- They wouldn’t let me accept that where I was at was where I would stay.
- They wouldn’t harbor any self-talk that said I couldn’t do what I wanted, whatever that was.
- They wouldn’t let me give up on my dreams of financial security and independence.
- They wouldn’t take no for an answer when I set a goal or harbored a plan.
- They wouldn’t listen when someone said they didn’t like what I had to offer.
- They wouldn’t harbor doubt about my talents or ability… Ms. Doubt was out on her ass!
- They wouldn’t give up when things got hard. And then they got harder.
- They just wouldn’t quit, no matter what.
Ms. Independence and Ms. Contrary have my back 150% and for that I’ll always be grateful.
Over to You
Now my questions for you are:
How are you breakin’ some rules? How are you achieving your goals, whatever they may be? How are you not backing down? I’d love to hear about it.
