Wednesday Wisdom is a weekly feature aimed at giving you some motivation in the middle of the week. This week’s comes from Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. 

Fyodor Dostoevsky On Being Ridiculous

Today’s bit of Wednesday Wisdom comes from the Fyodor Dostoevsky novel The Brothers Karamazov. In it, one of the main characters states that “Nowadays, almost all capable people are terribly afraid of being ridiculous, and are miserable because of it.” He was speaking to a young child, telling him to not take himself so seriously when he gets older.

I think many of us could use this advice.  Many of us have a dream we want to pursue, but we put it off thinking it to be too ridiculous. We tell ourselves that it isn’t practical, that there’s no way to make it work, and that we need to stick with our safe day-to-day lives. As a result, we end up resenting our daily lives, always wondering what could have been.

Rather than wondering, allow yourself to be a little ridiculous. Don’t take yourself so seriously, and try that thing you’ve always wanted to try. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to know how to play the accordion, or learn Klingon, or start a business based on custom outfits for dogs.  Whatever it is, no matter how ridiculous you may think it is, get out there and start doing it.

Too many people are miserable because they are afraid of being or trying something ridiculous. Don’t allow yourself to be one of them. Think of that thing you’ve always wanted to do, and on this Wednesday, go out and do it.

Tags: dostoevsky, entrepreneurship, inspiration, motivation, motivational quotes, quotes, wednesday wisdom