No Chance?

Tags: bullying, determination, no chance, persistence, The Stand-Up Diaries, Trevor Dean comedian

I’m adopted.  Most of you knew that.  On days like today it carries a bit of an extra meaning in celebrating our country’s birthday.  Our FREE country’s birthday.

I could have been picked by any set of parents, and maybe taken to another city, or another province even.  Maybe even another country perhaps.

Maybe Saskatoon and some of you would be better off not knowing me at all, or forgetting about me entirely, as I know there is an ex-girlfriend or two that would agree with that sentiment (yes, I have had more than one relationship)

Some people tell me that I have “no chance” in life.  No chance to be a good comedian, no chance to be a good son, no chance to find anybody special, no chance to try and make something of myself.  I’ve heard that “no chance” a lot lately.  Employers don’t want me.  Friends don’t invite me to the lake or for a weekend camping getaway.  My parents don’t ask me over to visit.  I don’t get asked to join the comics for out of town gigs yet I have hosted the pro comedy club in Saskatoon and Regina several times between the two locations.

It’s funny and kind sad at the same time how people who think they know me can say if and why I have “no chance” to succeed at certain things in life.  Some of these people are either too lazy or simply too scared to put in the work to help me realize that chance, remembering that help comes in many different forms.

So, instead of laughing behind my back and calling me a joke, instead of telling everyone I have “no chance” to succeed, why not shut your mouth and do me a favour?

Take a moment on this stat holiday to remember what country you live in.  This isn’t North Korea.  It isn’t China.  This is Canada, a free country, where its citizens are free to dream and free to try to create that chance to succeed.  Free will and freedom of speech are two of the greatest rights that we as Canadians are afforded.

I have a right to succeed just as much as you do, despite what my past or others may suggest.  All I ask sometimes is for a little bit of help from a friend, help that I rarely receive.  Instead, I get a steady diet of why things won’t work or I get reminded of my past and how I’m damaged goods or some type of mistake.  Don’t get me wrong though, as much as I have a right to try, you have that same right to voice your opinion, to be negative, to laugh behind my back or tell others something completely different than what you tell me to my face.  That too is your right for living in a free country.

However, in celebrating this Canada Day, why not try something that some of you have never done before, and lend a helping hand, not just to my comedy but to life in general.  Being scared, contradictory and negative will only get you so far in life.  Try being thankful for living in Canada and for having the ability to lift a person up with your words.  Lend a hand to somebody who could use it today.

I thought Canadians were in general a helpful, friendly bunch?  Or maybe they just aren’t that way to me.  Some days it’s hard to tell.

Happy Canada Day