Earlier today, as I scrolled my Instagram timeline, I came across a photo of some people I know from Elon. It was a repost, so I’d seen it before, but the caption on this one made me linger.
I look back and a lot of people have come and gone. We’d like to think everyone is really gonna be there when we need them. In reality it’s just that 1%. 99% are around because it’s convenient. I’ll take my 1% and run with it. Think about your 1% this morning. -Danny Sellers @_ablackman
I sat there thinking about that for a long minute. It took me back to my years in high school when I struggled with friendships. Toward the end I found myself with just a few essential friends in my life. Yet I constantly compared myself to the people sitting at crowded tables in the lunchroom, as I sat at a table I’d been allowed to sit at mostly out of pity and tried to keep up with the chatter of these people I barely knew. I spent a lot of those high school days feeling lonely in a sea of peers.
Looking back though, I realize that was preparation to fully appreciate the one percent I have now. Knowing what it was like to sometimes feel friendless, my one percent is invaluable to me. More than that, acquiring that one percent and understanding the role of the ninety-nine percent has helped me to see that I was wrong to be jealous of those people who never seemed to be alone. Maybe some of their smiles were just as forced as mine, and their laughter just as hollow. Or maybe not. Maybe they’d found their one percent in high school. But there really is no way to tell.
I’m not sure if Danny would agree, but it seems to me that it’s impossible to really know who your one percent is until you’re in need – of a shoulder to cry on, a friend to vent to, or even a $10 bill to borrow. The mental list of your one percent might even change when the chips are down.
But when your hard work has paid off and you’re experiencing success, a new group will emerge alongside the expected one percent. It’s the 25 percent. I couldn’t speak on this even a month ago. But on the day that I released my blog, I saw them come out. They texted me and tweeted about it and shared it with their friends. Or they were just one of the clicks that made my proud smile last all day. You often hear about people coming out of the woodworks when you’re successful, and it’s usually considered a negative thing. But when my 25 percent emerged that day, it felt amazing.
Part of being a tweeting, instagramming, facebooking human means shouting into the void and hoping you’re heard. You measure the people who hear you in retweets or likes or comments on a daily basis. But as a writer and a blogger, seeing that even ten people in one day have read something I’ve written is humbling. Seeing that 226 people visited my site on the day that I launched it was the ultimate response from the void. It was my 25 percent telling me they were there.
Danny is right about one very important thing. Convenience is the basis of many relationships. As we get older and move away from our hometowns or our families, we’ll make a new group of friends. But after the moving and changing, our one percent will still be there. They’ll be the people who we might only see once a year, but when we do, it’ll feel like we’ve seen each other every day. Those will be the people who you call when you get engaged and have your first child. When those things happen, the trusty 25 percent will be congratulating you, too. It’s your 25 percent that joins you, unselfishly, in your success. Your one percent are the people you want around you when your dreams come true.
Looking back though, I realize that was preparation to fully appreciate the one percent I have now. Knowing what it was like to sometimes feel friendless, my one percent is invaluable to me. More than that, acquiring that one percent and understanding the role of the ninety-nine percent has helped me to see that I was wrong to be jealous of those people who never seemed to be alone. Maybe some of their smiles were just as forced as mine, and their laughter just as hollow. Or maybe not. Maybe they’d found their one percent in high school. But there really is no way to tell.
I’m not sure if Danny would agree, but it seems to me that it’s impossible to really know who your one percent is until you’re in need – of a shoulder to cry on, a friend to vent to, or even a $10 bill to borrow. The mental list of your one percent might even change when the chips are down.
But when your hard work has paid off and you’re experiencing success, a new group will emerge alongside the expected one percent. It’s the 25 percent. I couldn’t speak on this even a month ago. But on the day that I released my blog, I saw them come out. They texted me and tweeted about it and shared it with their friends. Or they were just one of the clicks that made my proud smile last all day. You often hear about people coming out of the woodworks when you’re successful, and it’s usually considered a negative thing. But when my 25 percent emerged that day, it felt amazing.
Part of being a tweeting, instagramming, facebooking human means shouting into the void and hoping you’re heard. You measure the people who hear you in retweets or likes or comments on a daily basis. But as a writer and a blogger, seeing that even ten people in one day have read something I’ve written is humbling. Seeing that 226 people visited my site on the day that I launched it was the ultimate response from the void. It was my 25 percent telling me they were there.
Danny is right about one very important thing. Convenience is the basis of many relationships. As we get older and move away from our hometowns or our families, we’ll make a new group of friends. But after the moving and changing, our one percent will still be there. They’ll be the people who we might only see once a year, but when we do, it’ll feel like we’ve seen each other every day. Those will be the people who you call when you get engaged and have your first child. When those things happen, the trusty 25 percent will be congratulating you, too. It’s your 25 percent that joins you, unselfishly, in your success. Your one percent are the people you want around you when your dreams come true.