I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve spent a lot of my life feeling like an underdog. Whether real or imagined, I’ve always had something to prove. I had to prove that I could run a marathon, I had to prove that I could win a race, I had to prove that I could get an A in this class, etc, etc. I never figured out who I was trying to prove this to.
I came across this article tonight while checking the news. Now, I’ll be frank here and give you my honest opinion–Paul Harris has a LOT of potential, but he had a pretty mediocre basketball season this year, and there is no way that he should be going to the NBA right now. But I said that last year, too. Is Paul not living up to his potential, or is that potential not there to begin with?
This line in particular jumped out at me:
“I’ve got a chip on my shoulder,” Harris said. ”I think it’s good being an underdog. My motto is: I’m going to shock the world.”
Now, if Paul does well in the NBA, I can’t say I’ll be shocked. I think he is a good basketball player. So that raises the question: do we put these chips on our shoulders, or do others? Are we racing to show someone, to beat everyone else, or for our own intrinsic sense of well-being?
