Recently, my grand-father passed away. For several days I couldn't come to terms with his death; until I wrote an obituary.
The main point of it, was a quote of his:
"Disapproval and approval aren't so different, one of them means you're living your life, not the one others decided for you."
At one point in my life, I had no idea what I was going to do with myself. Instead, I wondered if someone was going to do something with me. My ideas were budding and people walked all over them nearly daily. I was told to become an investment banker, a bond trader, a bigshot corporate lawyer...
But, I had a passion for video games. I played professionally when eSports were only just starting to take form. Ten or so large tournaments a year, with prizepools barely scraping a couple thousand dollars, across all games... that was the best you could expect -- and you'd have to place first!
No one could ever hope to earn a living from eSports then. Everybody around me thought I should focus on something "serious" and "real". No one actually showed support towards what was more than just games to me... it was a passion, something I wanted to be involved with for the rest of my life.
One day, my grand-father looked me straight in the eye as I was deep in thought.
He saw all of me, my hesitations, my doubts, my fears. He understood my need for approval and my wanting to be acknowledged; he blew all that crap away with that single sentence.
From that point on, I steeled my resolve and stuck with my dreams and aspirations in spite of what anyone could say or think.
Now, we're in 2014... it's been nearly 10 years since then. There are several hundred large tournaments a year and a few of them boast prizepools in excess of a couple million dollars.
There is a stable professional scene with paid players, coaches and commentators, a large and loyal viewerbase. I'm no longer a professional player, but I've created my own company, I work hard to further eSports and make the games I love, a viable career path for those that share my passion.
Some of you SG's and hopefuls are judged, criticised, labelled... people don't acknowledge or approve of what you're doing; live your life, not what others decided for you.
You're all smart - strong - gorgeous.