Who are your biggest fans?

I am what you might call a late bloomer. It’s taken me a long time to break out of my shell. In some ways I’m still in the process.

The first cracks in my shell came from the outside, but that never would have been enough to free me. My chances of escape always depended on me breaking out from the inside.

I don’t know if I can trace the first crack to any specific person or time, but I am aware of many who put their share of cracks in the surface. At first these people seemed like threats, but over time I came to see them as my biggest fans. They believed in me before I believed in myself. More importantly, they inspired me to believe in myself.

Had the process ended with me just feeling like other people believed in me, without me ever believing in myself, it would have been a sad, unfulfilled effort. Which is where the question at the top comes in.

Who are your biggest fans?

Are you one of them?