Embrace your failure and nothing can hurt you. That’s what I learned by so many things that were getting in the way of my success simply because I wasn’t good at them. It’s one thing when others tell you that you can’t do it. It’s another thing when you tell yourself you can’t do it. This isn’t the power of positive thinking, or mind over matter, or some garbage new age self help advice, it’s the truth. You have to realize that on many levels and at a great many things you are a failure. I am a failure. Ah, I already see the horizon and it’s lookin’ good!
I have noticed on Twitter how a tiny group of outspoken, empty little bees can drive a narrative. They are vocal because we’re conditioned to think public manipulation by peer pressure is a good thing. When you’re not right and hold to a basically irrational position, cultural peer pressure is all they’ve got and it’s the weakest arrow in the quiver.
I don’t want to get political by bringing up Andrew Breitbart’s name, but he was a great man, and I don’t mean it’s because we agreed on everything. We didn’t agree. He was largely atheistic and I told him about Jesus. He was on board with the possibility of there being a God but thought Jesus and His resurrection was much more difficult to believe. “I agree.” I said. But one thing that impressed Andrew was that Jesus had all of the right enemies these days.
I knew Andrew as just a guy before he got involved in the culture war and became Breitbart. He was a good guy, we didn’t know each other super well, but he introduced me to Ben Shapiro at a dinner release of his first book. Andrew asked me about my work in comics and completely predicted the PC take over of the major comic labels. He was kind, passionate, quick to laugh, but felt the weight of the entire world slinging arrows at him every moment, simply because of his politics. I told him about my faith and that I receive similar criticisms by a vocal few because I believe in traditional Christianity. He reached out and told me that once the opposition took away his social standing, made him into a political enemy, they couldn’t take anything else away from him. He lost his Hollywood career and used a phrase I’ll never forget, “I’m free.”
A Twitter kid (usually with nine followers) said that I had to hate gays because I wrote for Breitbart and Andrew’s words came back to me, “I’m free.” I will always be associated with Breitbart’s name (and Google will make sure you always put us together) but I don’t mind, because I think of him as Andrew, a faithful guy. Friendship is more powerful than fame, cultural acceptance or money. You can’t offer me fame, cultural acceptance or money and try to get me to disassociate from a good man. That works on slaves but not on me. I’m free.
I heard from maybe three or four people that it was difficult to get into video games, animation and comics but I heard it from myself probably thousands of times. Once I realized that I was likely to fail and embraced it, I lost my fear and dove in head first. I told myself I’d fail in the gym, then went on to lift weights five days a week. I knew I couldn’t run a marathon, but gave myself permission to fail and ran five marathons in less than two years. I decided my koi pond would suck and now I’m putting in the pump! Do you realize that if you’re not dead that the worst hasn’t happened to you? You’re alive! You won! So go write that book, take karate, learn piano, have those kids, because some of you will succeed and some of you will fail, and being okay with that is how we get things done.