Alex Bogusky, of famed CP+B, tweeted that “Life conspires to beat, or buy the rebel out of you.” And then wrote a follow up post championing the old rebels.  The ones that have kept their fighting spirit through the years of ups and downs.  He was reminded of this conspiracy at a recent board meeting:

This idea that “Life conspires to beat or buy the rebel out of us.” actually came as a realization as I sat around a very high-level meeting in a very prestigious boardroom of a very successful global corporation. Many of the gentlemen had actually built the company up from scratch. All were rich. But I sat there and listened, not so much to the conversation but to the subtext of the conversation, and contrasted that to the conversations that startups have. The difference was stark. The fire to change the world was gone and it was replaced by a vague unease with change and a desire to protect the money or“defend the wealth.“ Life had done it’s little trick to once-great rebels.

And while I’m not in any board room, I can tell you that in more instances than I care to admit, I have found myself surrendering my inner rebel in exchange for acceptance, security or going with the crowd.  And every time I do it, a little bit of me dies.  Surrendered forever.

It’s like Seth Godin‘s lizard brain.  That piece that yearns for survival, always calling, always wanting us to do the safe thing – “defend the wealth.” And we have to ignore it. We have to avoid succumbing to its siren song.

For it’s the old rebels who win.  It’s the old rebels who in the end, have the richest experiences.  The ultimate highs, the lows, the resurgence.  All of that is guaranteed when you let you refuse to betray your inner rebel.

While I can’t always guarantee that I’ll embrace my inner rebel, Alex’s post was a great wake up call that the rebel is what makes life interesting and makes great things happen.