Many people go through life never figuring out who they really are. It took me years to build the kind of confidence that let me stop performing and start growing. One of the biggest hurdles in being yourself is learning to quit apologizing... for simply existing.
Unless you truly screwed something up, you don’t owe the world an apology.
Next barrier? Disguise.
How many styles did we march through before realizing that comfort, not fashion is the best look? We were disco queens, punk rockers, new wavers, Deadheads, grungy beatniks. All of it part of the same evolution. Turns out we were always ourselves...
...we just had to catch up to who that was.
Once we accept our own quirks and wiring, life starts to feel lived. Our most valuable contribution isn’t imitation.
It is authenticity.
It is morals.
It is faith.
It is a solid handshake and a belly laugh.
Oscar Wilde tells me to be myself. Bobby Olivar gave me the nickname "Jumbo" in the Ten-Year Pit back in 1989 and I have been Jumbo ever since.
I’m a dad. A friend. A colleague. A loudmouth introvert who sometimes swears during the Hail Mary, then holds the door open for the guy I just Mother-F’d for not using his turn signal.
That’s me.
Some know John Shepley. Most remember Jumbo.
So be yourself—because Jumbo’s already taken.
Take your tight shadow for a walk before it rains and start watching it grow next week. I put the days to Labor Day and Thanksgiving up in the grabber section to remind you not to waste time.
Go get some gusto and astonishment today.
