Greetings, Steemians and Steemettes!
Today marks the beginning of my forth week. Usually, I would use this time to make a quick recap over how my week has been, but since I have already spoken about most of the notable things in my 100 Comments Challenge Post, I will talk about something else instead.
50 Greyshades of Rodin
Are you not entertained?
When it comes to entertainment, we live in decent times. Plenty of movies, lots of shows, music.....has gotten strange, but is as big of an industry as ever. I can talk open with you, can I? I think that most of what we get served these days is mediocre. I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe, for example. On the other hand, almost all DC Movies so far have been utter disappointments.
This includes Nolans Batman trilogy. I did not enjoy them for the most part. One of the main reasons was Christian Bale getting the lead role. He was neither a good Bruce Wayne nor Batman. That doesn't mean that there aren't some gems in movies like these here and there. As most people, I did enjoy The Dark Knights Joker quite a lot. While not the kind of Joker I used to grow up with, the way he was portrayed in this movie was outstanding. Of course, Heath Ledgers performance helped out a lot here as well.
What I want to talk in this post and in other posts like this in the future, though, isn't the movie or the Joker as a whole, no. I want to talk about something much simpler. One single line he said that left it's mark on me.
Great that this video exists. This line, just handed over in a flippant fashion and probably not all that important in the grand scheme of things for the movie left a mark on me.
If you are good at something, never do it for free.
A simple line, yet it actually held so much meaning to me back when I heard it for the first time. It really got me thinking. I have a rather high opinion of myself. I would even go as far and say that I am a good friend to have. But for most of my life, my relation to topics that were in any way related to giving value to things was very flawed. For as many qualities as I think I have or thought I have, I was way too generous in handing them away.
You reading this post can probably relate to this as well, can't you? We are on a platform that rewards us for doing things that millions of others are still doing for free. I am not the best blog poster there is, hell, I just started three weeks ago and there is so much to learn and to test. Still, not only is it good to see my efforts being acknowledge not only by nice words but by something I will be able to work with in the future.
When I look around, I see a lot of people living their lives having talents of all sorts of kinds that rot away because they are not cultivated or, worse, are being taken advantage off. The same used to be true for me as well. And to a degree, it probably still is. Looking back at the past, especially in regards of my working life so far, I have been selling myself short. Especially my last Job ended up being a real eye-opener. Not only did I waste away my talents and strengths, I used them for something that seemed right at the time but turned out to be against everything I represent and value as good in life.
I came back to this quote and started thinking. Up until that point, all I ever did was subjugate myself to others who would just take advantage of me, one way or another, for next to no gain. That is wasteful in the worst way. Selling myself, my life, my time and my soul for what little I got in return is shameful for me to look back to.
Looking forward
Since last year, I am always on the look out for ways to manage my life in better ways and use my strengths in more productive ways. So far, none of them have proven to improve my life in any way, but I am just getting started and I am willing and able to try out many more things in order to give my life the value I think it deserves.
Posting on Steemit is the most recent example for this and also the most enjoyable. God knows I am infamous for spending way too much time in front of a computer, but now, I feel like this time is spend in a good way. The amounts of money I make with my post is small, but I don't mind. The symbolic value of having these rewards given to me in the first place where they would have gotten wasted somewhere else is enough for me and I also do think that there is much room for growth in the future.
So I am doing fine, anything else?
I have to take a friend of mine as an example. She is a much more dedicated and skilled writer than I am, but right now, she suffers from the same mindset that I suffered from many years ago, but to a degree that I consider to be harmful to herself. She basically has no regard for her own talents or well-being. I talked to her about Steemit and told her that it is a great opportunity to get an audience for her works while also having the option of maybe earning a couple cents or euros along the way. And on and on came a tirade of words about how she thinks that her works suck even though plenty of people told her that they enjoyed it. She is also one of these people who do almost anything for other people, even at the expense of her own well being.
I do not wish for her to become a self-absorbed maniac like the Joker and I certainly do not wish for her to end up developing a huge ego such as mine, but she desperately needs to get a better idea about her own place in the world.
I will show her this post once I have submitted it. Maybe it will do her some good. I will also write more posts about quotes that left a lasting impression on me in the future. There are quite a few of those and I am looking forward to writing about them. Do you like this idea? Tell me in the comments. Also tell me about quotes that had a similar effect on you, I am very interested in that.
So remember, give value to everything you do. It doesn't have to be much, it doesn't have to be money. It only has to be enough so that you feel good about yourself and feel accomplished.