What Others Think

When Bob Dylan was awarded a Nobel Prize his fellow singer Leonard Cohen remarked, “it’s like pinning a medal on Mount Everest for being the highest mountain”. When you’re Everest, what do you care what people think?

In reality, most of us care deeply. “They’ll laugh at me”. “They’ll think I’m stupid”. “They’ll think I’m not good enough”. “What if they see the real me?”

Sometimes, such caring can come disguised as its opposite. I once had a boss I rated so poorly that I became highly stressed and on the verge of quitting. “I can’t stand her,” I confided to friends. “She doesn’t respect me or my work!” Translation: “I don’t care about this person so much it hurts!”

Looking back, the humbling fact is that I somehow needed that boss to think well of me. When she didn’t, something in me felt triggered. It was that something, not her opinion, that was at play. It’s always that something.

There’s an Everest in all of us. When we know that - really know it - what do we even care what others think?