Point of distinction I thought it was important to highlight and even discuss here.
So much talk with the loss of tWitch, about “the mask he must’ve been wearing”…and “we don’t know what’s really going on in people’s personal lives”.
All true – in SOME cases.
But not in all cases…and dare I say, in many cases.
You look at recent videos of tWitch and his family dancing…at videos of him performing on SYTYCD, or Ellen – those reactions don’t appear to be a smile or glow you can just fake or force. That appears to be genuine happiness.
I’ve shared personally that right before my crash in FL, if you gave me truth serum and asked if I was happy, my answer would have been YES. I loved the new job. Loved the new challenges…going to the games and meeting new people. I’d risen the ranks in the sports biz industry. It’s something I’d been given positive reinforcement for…that had brought interest from some of the top brands in the country/world, who’d recruited me. It was my “drug”.
Why bring this up?
From a young age so many of us are told we excel at something. Could be a sport, an instrument, math, history…even a great smile. For some our gift changes and develops. Some it remains the same. Think about the athlete told he/she’s a stud at 8 years old – then ongoing from there.
You don’t thing tWitch was told from a young age: “your smile brightens a room…you have a glow about you…you are a natural performer”.
Here’s my point: maybe for many (I know for myself), it’s not a mask. Maybe being lucky to have something we LOVE doing, isn’t that lucky, if it is our “drug” that covers our pain. We all have pain from our life challenges. And it builds for all of us.
Key takeaway – we gotta do check-ins. Gotta talk. Gotta share. Gotta discuss what we MAY be avoiding. Not doing that, for some of us, let’s the heavy stuff grow in the dark while we barely notice it. A silent life destroyer, and sadly even killer
