Invincibility is a delusion.

Let me start this off by an example of just how big of a lunatic I personally am,

At a motivational speaking conference where my colleagues simply expected me to sit through and applaud; I couldn’t resist keeping my mouth shut.

As the Speaker empathically preached to the crowd,

“LISTEN! HEAR YOURSELF. YOU ARE NOT WEAK. YOU’RE INVINCIBLE!
LOOK AT THE WORLD. THAT GIRL YOU’RE AFRAID TO ASK OUT, SHE’S RIGHT THERE — SHE’LL SAY ‘YES’; YOU’RE INVINCIBLE!
WE ARE INVINCIBLE.
NOW SAY IT WITH ME! *Crowd chants* WE’RE INVINCIBLE!
YOU WANT TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? WANT YOUR DREAM JOB?
YOU’RE INVINCIBLE! IT’S-RIGHT-THERE. LOOK AT IT.
GO GET IT, YOU’RE UNBEATABLE.
GET THAT MILLION, IT’S YOURS!
SAY IT WITH ME NOW, PEOPLE — *crowd chants* *I yawn* WE’RE INVINCIBLE!”

…Oh what the fuck. I guess I’ll have to jump in now.

“Excuse me, Sir! I have a question!”, my colleagues look away pretending they don’t know me.

“YES YOU, SPEAK YOUR MIND! — WE’RE HERE. WE’RE INVINCIBLE!”

“Yeah I get that mate, so you got a girl and a few million to spare?”

I was told to leave, for bringing that kinda negativity into this fellas world of invincibility.

In my defence, he did ask me to speak my mind; kinda seems like the fella had it coming.

But whatever,
It was blessing in disguise, trust me, I needed a cigarette real bad.

Let’s bring some reality into this mythical phenomenon — We’re not invincible.

Though I’m sure, most of us would like to be believe we are.

We’re not. Believing it, sure as hell is motivating.

Life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

It’s struggle.

It’s tough, and it’s not easy.

Those words don’t sound that motivating, trust me I left the same way first time my mentor told me that.

I didn’t want to be told I wasn’t invincible.

I wanted to believe I was.

Until, reality struck — all my plans fell apart.

Down on my luck, and there I was — 20 years old, hooked on depression medication; wondering how it all fell apart.

That’s when I realised, I’m not invincible.

I’m just another survivor, that’s all.

My only goal is to move through the struggle, learn to endure the pain, take a break — and let reality set in, keep moving.

We won’t all get the dream jobs we hope for, I hope that you do — trust me, wholeheartedly I wish all my students would go on to be successful.

The last thing I want to do is prepare them for a world that is unforgiving, by making them believe they’re invincible.

It’s harsh words, especially when students look up to me for advice.

I too was once a student, I know how they feel — I too felt invincible.

Except now I sit where once my mentor did, and my students where I once would’ve been — believing that same delusion I did at the time, I’m invincible.

I’m not.

Life is, unpredictable — nobody with a magic globe could tell us what comes next.

Maybe it’s a lottery, maybe it’s demise.

All I ever learnt from my experience, was simply this — prepare yourself.

Learn, Pursue, Seek to understand, Be curious, Ask Questions, Be Inspired by struggle — but don’t fall into the trap of believing you’re invincible.

It sounds like a great damn speech, but coming from a motivational speaker who stands on a stage preaching to a crowd paying upwards of $100 to listen to him say “We’re Invincible”; whilst he’s safely guarded by security to throw anybody out that will question their views — ain’t worth a dime.

We’re not invincible, but we sure as hell are survivors.

Let this not demotivate you, let it be known that in your pursuit you will find struggle, you will find rejection, and you will get knocked down.

Keep moving, and you’ll persevere.

Just learn to get back up again without getting crushed by a false sense of belief that “We’re Invincible”.

On that note, I leave you with a great track by legends The Rolling Stones to kickstart the background music to your pursuit.

Wish you all the very best, dear fellow reader — may you truly realise the benefits of pursuit towards your endeavours, emerging with grace and humility.

Thank you for reading.