Have you ever met an older person who shares your passion for something and you two have so much in common? And they start encouraging you to keep doing what you love and trying to help you along best they can? You can tell they see themselves when they look at you, the younger version, and they hope you make better choices. In you they find all the potential they once had and try to push you, sometimes roughly, to make the most of that potential.
Sometimes I wonder who those people see when they look at me. What do they imagine in my future? Where do they see my passion taking me? Do they see the power to overcome the things that make me doubt myself? Do they see a second chance, someone who could do what they wish they had?
And sometimes I wonder if one day I’ll be looking at the kid I used to be. I wonder if I’ll be the one telling them not to make the mistakes I did, that they shouldn’t settle for safe. That they should follow their passion and never settle for anything less than their dreams.