The quickest way to become troubled is to be concerned with what people are gonna say about your life and your work. – Ahmad Jamal
If this is your idea of art, don’t be troubled by the critics. There is a buyer for almost any art, if you can only find them. Follow your dream.
What does that mean?
This is another way of saying that you can’t please all the people all the time. This quote advises us to not trouble ourselves with the opinions of all the other people in life. The author of this quote is an accomplished Jazz Pianist, and was talking about critics, many of whom either didn’t know him or didn’t like him. In any case, they weren’t the people who were part of what was him, nor who were important to him.
Being worried about people who are not important to you is a great way to get all worried and troubled in mind and spirit. This quote urges us to not take that path. Implied in the quote is the urging to be your own person, to follow your own true path.
Why is staying focused on your dreams important?
The quote also appears to urge us to remain calm, cool, and collected, rather than allow ourselves to become troubled. While most of us aren’t professional writers or performers, we all have our critics. Whether it’s the boss, or your family, there is always someone who isn’t going to be pleased with your decisions, no matter what you say or do.
We all have dreams of what we want to do with our lives. Whether it’s how we will impact the lives, emotions, wealth, health, or peace of mind of others, we have our ideas of what we want to do and how we plan to get there.
This quote is about following your own path. I would allow for some feedback, but to also be careful about who you listen to, and in what topics or subject areas. Not everyone in your life is an expert on you, nor are they likely any better at the topic you are addressing.
This doesn’t mean run off and join the circus just because you want to make people happy as a clown. There are plenty of things to consider with a life decision such as a career change. But if you come from a long line of circus clowns, you might want to listen to their advice, as they know you and the subject matter. I hope that made sense.
Where can I apply this in my life?
Once again, we are trying to find the Golden Mean. That ‘Goldilocks Path’ that is neither too much, nor too little, but is just right. Part of the challenge with this is that everyone’s path will be a little different, and will change over time.
Only you can determine what your path should be, and who should be among the people you are concerned about what they think regarding your life and your work. There are no shortage of people who are willing to put in their comments and their thoughts, but how many of them both matter to you, and have something useful or informative to add to the conversation?
When the person doesn’t really matter to you, it is usually fairly easy to ignore their advice, and often you can simply ignore the person as well, since you probably don’t spend a lot of time hanging around them. However, when it’s a person that does matter to you, perhaps a friend, that’s when it can become a bit trickier to deal with.
For me, the hard part is trying to balance the friendship with a person and the validity of their advice. It can be hard to just up and say to a friend that I think they are ill informed, or flat out wrong about something. However, sometimes they are. How will you deal with that? I try to remind them that this is my live and my decision, and I must live with the consequences.
As long as you remember that the consequences are yours to bear, and can remind others of this point, hopefully you can agree to disagree and move on with your lives. Just expect a heaping helping of “I told you so” if you were wrong and they were right. It’s only fair, isn’t it?
Just remember that you can easily end up paralyzed if you get overly concerned with what others think. You will never be able to please everyone and the surest way to fail is to try. In addition to not being able to please everyone, you will be unable to please yourself, and that may be the worst part of all of it.
Follow your dreams. Hear the opinions of those who are important to you, but make allowances for the possibility that they are wrong. Try not to do painfully stupid things, but strive to pursue your dreams in both your life and your work. And try not to be troubled with the critics are going to say.
From: Twitter, @CharlotteKeeffe
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/ahmadjamal228324.html
Photo by yusunkwon
