“Two words: nobody cares.” -Molly Roohi
Nobody cares. The mantra of friend, and Ironman extraordinaire, Molly Roohi is a message of truth and assurance. Life just shouldn’t be taken as seriously as we often do, and Molly will often remind me of this when we are mid-workout or pre-race, for she knows that I have the tendency to care too much. The thing is that really, nobody cares. We have been seduced by society into thinking that we must earn love and value through achievement or beauty, and it simply isn’t true.
Molly’s little mantra holds me accountable to just being myself. And yes, we all need accountability in this for it is often the first thing we let go of when we start comparing ourselves to someone else or when we start taking something in life too seriously. I want to be fast, I want to be great, I want to be successful, and I want to achieve, but, the real truth is that nobody cares about these things. The people in my life that love me love me for me, not for what I achieve. It doesn’t matter how skinny, wealthy, successful, fast, or famous we are: nobody cares. This seems like an obvious concept but the truth is that we waste worry over caring about impressing others and what others think of us when it just doesn’t matter.
It’s official, I am now a believer in the fact that nobody cares. Life is meant to be lived to the fullest, and you are the one to decide what is full for you, so be unapologetically yourself. For me that means days filled of dorky enthusiasm, dictionary reading, extensive workouts, wine with friends and travel until I have seen the whole world; create your own definition of maximum living and follow it wholeheartedly.
The only person’s opinion in life that matters is your own, so start living like nobody cares, because, well, they don’t. Embrace this freedom with purpose because it will be easy to forget. If you ever doubt it though, just picture Molly flying by you on the bicycle on a sprint set, flashing two fingers in the gesture of a peace sign and shouting nobody cares. It always does the trick for me.