Nonchalance (Word For The Week)
Nonchalance is a noun derivative of nonchalant, which describes someone feeling or appearing casually calm and relaxed; not displaying anxiety, interest, or enthusiasm.
It is the new cool. For years, everyone has wanted to appear busy, putting in the effort, giving their all, they wanted to be seen to care about someone, what they are doing, to be known to have struggled, sweated, toiled, and finally aced their craft. Overnight, that script was flipped.
Nonchalance is what a generation has substituted for a peaceful demeanor, poise, class, panache, and debonair. Like Mario Balotelli, who believed it was a job to score goals and stopped celebrating, people want to stop celebrating their big and small wins. They don’t want to be seen as little for celebrating the little wins or underachieving for celebrating the big ones.
They have decided to appear like the duck on the water. Floating calmly and effortlessly, but beneath that, many are paddling for their life. This will not be a problem, except that many are gazing at those appearing nonchalant and believing that they can replicate that effortless success.
People are looking around them and seeing overnight successes. They don’t know that an “overnight success” has probably put in thousands of hours into their craft and have been at the verge of making the big leagues for the last couple of years, but have only been unable to crack that until recently.
You seeing the last few moments just before their big break does not mean you are privy to their struggle and every effort they have put in to achieve success.
It is not for me to tell you to drop the nonchalance, but I can assure you that success does not come without effort. If your nonchalance is actually seeping all the way to your energy level, if you are too cool to try, if you tend to quit things as soon as you stop looking cool while doing them, then you are not on the precipice of success. Instead, you have a recipe for disaster.
And when you do get successful, when those who look up to you ask how you made it, don’t try to downplay the role that your effort and sweat played. It is not humility or glorifying God to say your success had nothing to do with your ability, effort, enthusiasm, dedication, or practice.
Yes, the grace of God was present, but your input was also required.
Don’t poison your proteges with nonchalance and start wondering why they lack grit.
Before you tell us you have no proteges and you did not ask anyone to look up to you, someday soon, we will talk about how everyone is in a hurry to avoid being seen as a role model. Yet, we are also talking about how the next generation is wayward, lacking in virtues, or totally lost.
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