"One's self-image is very important because if that's in good shape, then you can do anything, or pratically anything."
--Sir John Gielgud
Perhaps the one thing about myself that I pride the most is my sense of self esteem. I can remember back when what other people thought really mattered to me. Oh my God, what if someone laughs at me? What would this person think of me? Why are they staring at me?! I wish I was dead! Now I look back at thinking those things, and can only laugh at myself for being so stupid. Eventually, everybody comes to the realization that you have to live your life for yourself, because nobody else sure as hell will. Some just see it sooner than others, and are all the better for it.
When you come to the end of your life, you want to remember all the things that you did do, not the things you were too scared to do or things nobody else wanted to do. I see people who worry about things like these every day, and it saddens me to no end. People who have a real gift or talent, but they don't share it because they're afraid somebody else out there, in that world of 5+ billion people, would think they're stupid.
To shamelessly plug a Nike quote: "Just do it." Do it now before you regret it. You never know when that plane you're on will crash, or when you step in front of that car that wasn't there a second ago, or when you catch that deadly disease.
Just Do It...