Who Was The First Person Who Made You Doubt Your Potential?

I bet right now, it’s the Internet

I was standing in the middle of my high school hallway the first time I embodied the words, “couldn’t feel smaller if I tried.” I’d just finished asking my 10th grade science teacher for support because I was having a hard time in her class.

I can still hear the words she said, “Vivian, you’re not always going to get As, no matter how hard you try.”

And that was the first time I remember questioning my potential, my worth, and my ability to make things work out for myself. Through my creative career there have been other moments, but they all feel like copycats of that first time.

Lately, I’ve replaced my 10th grade teacher with my toxic relationship to the social media comparison game. I look to the internet for “proof” that no matter how hard I try I won’t ever truly be good at showing up on the Internet. Sometimes that “proof” is what other people are doing that I deem better, other times it’s the analytics associated with my own content or words.

It is too easy to interrupt our good streaks with self-doubt. It’s as easy to get a blow to our confidence when we turn to the wrong people, places, or things, for support that they aren’t able to (or won’t) give us.