People will always resent you. If you're poor, they will resent you for not working hard enough. If you're rich, they will resent you for not giving enough. If you're smart, they'll resent you for being a know-it-all. If you're stupid, they'll resent you for wasting their time. If you're lazy, they'll resent you for not doing anything. If you're industrious, they'll resent you for making them look bad.
I wish to God I could meet a friend who truly understands and lives by the truth of our existence. I look for genuine ambition, passion for achievement, desire for expansion, willingness to suffer for one's own good, and intelligence.
Seizeher...I feel you on this. I feel the same way about a lot of my friends...they're good enough people, but they don't seem to understand my longing for "more" out of life and instead love to claim I should be "happy with what I have" and not worry about it.
I don't claim to have "great ambitions"...it just seems like most people will do things only when the rewards are brought TO them. Mohammed refuses to go to the mountain, though, and when things start taking time or effort, most of the people I know just "punch out".
Perfect example...a couple months ago, some friends of mine and I went on a snowboarding trip. My first time there, so I kind of knew it was gonna be rough trying to learn a new skill. The "vets" went ahead to the black diamonds and left the rest of us to the bunny slopes for a lesson.
I must've fallen on my arse like a hundred times trying to get the balance down...frustration was starting to get the best of us near the end of the lesson because no matter what the instructor tells you, until you start to understand the balance of it by "doing", you're not going to be able to stay standing.
I was the only one who stayed for day 2. All of my other friends returned their rental gear and just said, "F it, we're going to go do something else". I hauled my humbled ass up to the green slopes ALONE and spent the entire day falling on my arse time and time again trying to get the balance down. About halfway through the day, it finally started to "click"...I was learning to work at least the heel-edge of the board, to the point where I could "falling leaf" my way down the slope with only two or three spills tops. I could stop, change direction, and effectively at least keep myself from flying off the mountain or into another skier without crashing.
I can't wait for next winter to try it again. The rest of my friends who "quit"...they could care less. It's something they did just to say they did it, and when it turned out to be harder than they expected, they quit and went home, deciding it wasn't worth their time.
When I came back, a couple of the "quitters" were on their way from the lodge to go snow-tubing...basically a lame setup where a bunch of people too scared to ski can ride tubes down a hill in pre-marked parallel lanes on a slope. They asked me if I was going and I told them no. This is what really "burns" me...one of them had the balls to accuse ME of being "lazy", for not wanting to go do some lame-ass compromise snow-tubing after I was the ONLY ONE who stayed on the hill and bounced my ass off the snow until my spine was numb so I could learn to snowboard.
It's hard to stay ambitious when everyone around you is only "adventurous" when the going is easy.
I really would love to find people who would help motivate me, instead of people I had to motivate myself in spite of. Dealing with my existential crisis, it'd be nice to find some people who still had some lust for life.
Unfortunately, most of the people that I'd like to meet would probably be equally brought-down by the attitude that I've acquired over time, unless we had a significant common interest that brought us together.
I'd love to sit with BB and shoot the sh!t with him sometime...but between horse-racing and web development, I honestly don't know how much we would realistically have in common, how many endeavors we would share interest in.
BB, as you continue to elevate yourself, you're going to find fewer and fewer people who are "within reach". They may look like they resent YOU for this...the truth is that they resent themselves for not being able to reach you.
They want to jump to the rung of the ladder that you are on...realistically, they can only get to the next rung, one at a time.
You don't have an obligation to reach these people, so don't let them drag you down. But don't hate on them. Remember, somewhere deep inside of them, though they've forgotten, they still have a drive to "grow" as human beings. They're not malicious...just ignorant. Maybe one day you'll be able to reconnect with them.
For now, I just wouldn't worry about it. Brush them haters off.
