He has always been living in the shadows of X.

X knows all of his failures and shorcomings, and is not afraid to reveal them to everyone.

He has no choice, he has to cooperate and give in to X.

It is not a very bad life. In fact, he is doing quite well, even though he is always in the shadows of X. He has done well in school, made new friends and picked up new hobbies. Everything is going well. But whenever he thinks back of his failures, the shadow of X looms over him, and destroys his self-confidence. The fear of X dominates his thoughts, and he withdraws into his comfort zone. It is his tendency to be meek and submit to the whims of X. Whatever self confidence he has built up is quickly eroded by X.

His existence is not impressive, just mediocre. It is... not something he desires for.

One day, realisation struck him. He had enough. He realised that the best thing to do now is to accept his failures and shortcomings. And move on. Learn from his own failures. He realised that there is nothing to be ashamed of. Admitting to his failures and faults, is the bravest thing he has done.

He admitted to his faults. X is very shocked. X does not know how to react. X just stood there, and stared at him.

He looked at X. X no longer looked that domineering. In fact, X looked just like him, when he was depressed! He peered over X's shoulders. He has forgotten the sights surrounding him. All along, he has been focused on X and the shadow on the ground. Looking around, everything looked so inviting, so pleasing to the eye.

"What have I missed out on? What an idiot I am!" he muttered to himself.

Without looking at X again, he strided off, and took in the wonderful sights. The freedom to roam around overwhelmed him. These feeling of happiness, confidence and enthusiasm have never occurred to him while he was in X's shadow.

"Treasure this feeling...Never forget it." he told himself.

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What is X? I believe X exists in everyone of us. X is this second voice in our head, telling us to give up, to slack off, to procrastinate.

Fight X off. Believe in yourself. And take pride in your own uniqueness. Everyone is special. Do not let X tell you otherwise.

Note: To anyone who reads this, sorry for the simplistic and crude story. Just something I thought of suddenly, and I just have the urge to write it down. =p