Pride in a Job Well Done

Today I say the above thread on Twitter. It resonated with me on a deep level. I thought to myself about any times I’ve tried to tell someone about my accomplishments and, mostly, they’ve been met with responses I could only call muted. I don’t like to big note myself. I have always been surrounded by people who were better than me at pretty much anything. That’s part of the problem when you go to an academically selective high school, and compete to a high level in sport. There’s always someone better than you, and even if you come first this time, you probably won’t next time.

I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. This is what drives us to become better – as people and as a society. You being the best at something drives someone else to be even better. You are an inspiration, and that is a good thing. It is an important thing. But that’s not what this about. It’s not about being overtaken by someone more talented. It’s about what happens when you tell someone about your accomplishments, especially when many years have passed since you achieved them.

It took me a long time to realise that, essentially, people don’t care about what you’re proud of unless it helps them or makes them feel better. I teach gymnastics for a living but that’s not the sport I excelled at. And I use excelled with some trepidation. As a roller skater, I never thought I was all that good. I had fantastic coaches who had competed at world championships, I was never going to be that good. Even as a teenager, competing at a national level, I didn’t think I was any good because I had friends who were representing the country.

Then, I made it into a team to go to the world championships, but I still didn’t feel like I’d really made it as the events I was competing in were seen as lesser events because they were team events and not individual events. What should have been a crowning glory made me feel like I didn’t deserve to be there.

When I teach kids to skate, I tell them that I competed at a world level. It’s not so much for them, they’re just there to have a bit of fun. It’s for the adults in the room, because a qualification doesn’t mean much in sports. Parents want their kid to be taught by the best, and a national champion and national representative gives me credentials other coaches can’t claim. It doesn’t make me a better coach. It just sounds better.

That kind of self-praise is acceptable to society. It’s almost expected. But if you’re proud of something that is seen as not mattering, you’d better keep it to yourself. I’ve been writing poetry since I was a kid. I would have been about 13 when I wrote my first one. The teacher thought it was really good and praised me in front of the class. If I had stood up in class and said, “I’ve written a really good poem” I would have been ridiculed.

Ok, so that was high school, and people mature but still, as a society, we like to cut down tall poppies. We don’t like it when people think too much of themselves, even if it’s deserved. And when you get that reaction – that disdain – you second guess yourself, you think twice before saying anything, and you keep your pride under wraps because it’s ok to be proud of others, and it is ok to be proud of yourself, just don’t say anything.

In the tweet the author mentioned about “celebrating with the right crowd” and it would be so nice if we all knew which crowd we could express ourselves with before we did it and got shot down, especially in those formative years. Sometimes, the only one you can celebrate with is yourself.

It does get better as you get older. You find your crowd. But it’s still not always easy to say when you’re proud of something, just like it’s not easy to say when you’re upset about something. So, this is me saying I’m proud of what I’ve achieved in life. I’m proud of my sporting achievements. I’m proud of my university degree. And I’m proud of my writing. Because if I’m not, who else will be?

Australian Pride

Today is Australia Day. It's a day which is all-encompassing and dividing. It is a day of mateship and of racial tension. The duality of this day is a microcosm of Australia as a nation. On the surface, there is a welcome that speaks of friendly locals, fun things to do, cute animals and stunning landscapes. Underneath, however, there is a decidedly nasty current of casual racism.

But I am not going to write about that. I am not sweeping it under the rug, it is simply not something that I could do justice to in a single piece, in a single sitting. What I am going to write about is that which makes me proud to be an Australian and for which all Australians should be proud, regardless of their roots.

I am proud of my democratic right to voice an opinion. It may not be the same opinion as yours. It may not be the same as my neighbours, or your neighbours, or the local shop keepers, or the farmer in the bush, or the yuppie in the beachside café. My opinion is just as valid as anyone elses and I have the right to voice my opinion, excepting slanderous, defamatory or libellous utterances.

I am proud of the police service which enable me to live in relative safety. I can walk down the street without fear. I trust in the emergency services should I find myself in difficulties. I am proud of their efforts in keeping me safe, in their efforts as part of peace keeping forces around the world, and in their efforts to maintain law and order.

I am proud of our education system in which I could, if I wanted it badly enough and worked hard enough, be anything that took my fancy. Our public and private school provide an education which would be the envy of many nations around the world, our universities are held in high esteem. No matter what profession you might choose to pursue, there are opportunities to do so.

I am proud of the immigrants that mean I can eat food from every nation in the world without having to leave the city that I love. I can thank those who left their homelands to make new homes in my homeland for the variety of cuisines in the local shops, from Chinese to Mexican, Italian to Thai, African to Greek. There is no sense of losing my identity because of their arrival, in fact, it enriches my life.

I am proud of my sporting achievements and the achievements of my fellow countrymen. Whether it is in their suburban club team or representing their country, there is much to be proud of in Australian sport. Their is a perception of Australia as a nation obsessed with sport and this is true to a certain extent. It brings us together like little else in the world. The love of a particular sport can bring together those of different backgrounds and cultures. For the majority of Australians, the friendly rivalry of sport is something which forges bonds rather than creating divides.

I am proud of our acceptance, in literary, musical and artistic terms, of difference and multiculturalism and the lack of censorship in what can be a highly contentious and controversial industry. It doesn't matter if I like a piece, or if I am offended by a piece, the fact that I live in Australia means that I have every right to not like it, or be offended by it, and that it has every right to exist.

I am proud of my country, with its sweeping coasts, its intricate coral reefs, its vast deserts and its dense rainforests. This land which I call home brings me such joy, it inspires me to share it with the world and it envelops me every day. There is nothing in this world quite like home. I may travel around the world, to places on natural beauty, to remote lands, to man made wonders, but I will always come home, to my little place in the sun; and if I go nowhere else in the world, the wonders of the world are in my own backyard for all the world to visit.

But mostly I am proud of my people. Some trace themselves back to the very beginning of this nation, coming here in canoes, living off the land, and telling stories from the dream time. Some trace themselves to the first white settlers in fleets of tall ships, whether convicts, soldiers or free settlers, they built a modern nation in the shadow of their motherland. Some came in leaky boats, fleeing war ravaged nations with little more than the clothes on their backs. And some simply flew, wanting a better life for themselves and their future generations. These are all my people. They are my family, my friends and my neighbours. They are my community and my nation. They are my people and I am proud.