ANNA GEARY
HE CALLED HIMSELF ‘THE GREATEST’ AND FEW DOUBTED HIS CLAIM. INDEED, IRISH PEOPLE COULD LEARN A LITTLE BY BEING MORE POSITIVE ABOUT THEMSELVES WRITES ANNA GEARY
THE term ‘ legend’ is thrown around too frequently in my humble opinion. People need to earn a legendary status. Sportspeople may warrant this title by consistently proving they have what it takes, not only in their quest to get to the top, but also to stay up there. In last week’s article, I quoted a true legend whose words will forever inspire others to believe in themselves. Muhammed Ali was taken from this world since I last put my ‘fingers to laptop’ (unfortunately ‘pen to paper’ is being replaced in this digitally driven world).
It is said that “heroes get remembered, but legends never die”. What is Ali’s legacy? Yes, he was one hell of a fighter and was constantly willing to adapt to stay ahead of his opposition. But more importantly, he was a man who utterly believed he was the best. He backed himself when others questioned his ability. Some may have viewed his attitude as arrogant and egotistic, such was his overwhelming faith in himself. He felt it “wasn’t bragging if you can back it up”.
Let’s consider a scenario for a moment. Imagine you are speaking with a sportsperson on a street in your town and suddenly they utter the words, “I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark”.
While you may smile away in agreement at the time, once you had left their company what you wouldn’t say about them to others. It’s just as well he wasn’t Irish or we would have brought him back down to earth quickly.
In Ireland we have a difficult time accepting compliments from others. We find it challenging to just respond with ‘ thank you’. In contrast, Americans have the acceptance of compliments down to a fine art but complimenting ourselves is totally alien to the Irish.
Those rare few that engage in this act are often seen as “full of themselves” and what follows are plenty of remarks along the lines of “who does she think she is?” or “someone is after getting too big for their boots”. As Irish people, it is just built into our mind-sets to shun any positive comments and self-criticise instead.
How often do we hear players avoid or reject praise after a game expressing the view that they ‘only did ok’ or that they ‘did little compared to others on the pitch’. Look at many American Football players in comparison and they regularly state how no one can rival their individual abilities.
A GAA player would get skinned alive in many Irish households if they admitted, in a media interview for example, that they were ‘in top form and had played superbly’. While staying humble and modest are positive traits to be commended and admired in people, there is a fine line between keeping ourselves grounded and actually putting ourselves down.
Muhammed Ali once declared: “I am the greatest. I said that even before I knew I was. It’s the repetition of affirmation that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, good things begin to happen”.
If you regularly reinforce positive messages about yourself, once you start to believe them, you will begin to act accordingly. This has been proven. While I am not suggesting we go to the extremes of emulating Ali’s levels of self- confidence; I do believe there is much room for improvement in how we perceive ourselves. Simply put, we are a self-deprecating nation.
I am delighted to be supporting the #InsideANDOut campaign which is the brainchild of the current Rose of Tralee, Elysha Brennan. She wants people, particularly young people, to stop self-shaming and actually publicly share what they love about themselves.
With all the mental health issues in our society and negativity surrounding body image we don’t do our self-esteem any favours with our constant self-criticising. RTE’s Ray D’arcy launched the campaign and acknowledged that people will find it difficult to divulge aspects of themselves that they love without deducing it to be boastful.
It is such an empowering exercise to reflect on yourself and what strengths in your personality, or physical traits make you proud. What makes you, well, YOU? Think about it.
We need to educate children in Ireland (and beyond) that is it absolutely ok to be happy in our own skin and look favourably on our own characteristics and talents. Perhaps then if we accept ourselves a little more, we will all start to feel better on the ‘inside and out’.
Check up the campaign and join in. As Oscar Wilde pointed out, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken”.
A GAA PLAYER WOULD GET SKINNED ALIVE IF THEY ADMITTED THAT THEY WERE IN TOP FORM OR PLAYING SUPERBLY...