As children we are taught to tie our laces. At first I thought it was to never lose balance but with time, I realised, it’s so we don’t get left behind in this race which has no finish line. Hope and the thrill of continuity lead to legacies but they also lead to insanity. Insanity has several avatars and they are amongst us, whether we like to admit it or not.
Addiction, aggression, apprehension, anxiety; these are just miniscule forms from the first alphabet, that accompany the root cause of these dead ends.
Hope is an infatuation that results in hallucinations to what could be rather than an adrenaline rush to make it happen.
We are the generation of the influencers, the trend-setters and yet we get influenced enough to set our goals in relation to what others are doing. Sub-consciously we are conscious of the eyes that might be viewing our every move. But similar to an animal in a cage, even our full potential cannot be embraced if we bind ourselves within the four walls of expectations. We compare ourselves to another, instead of setting benchmarks to a newer and more improved version of ourselves.
Even a football team has several different roles within it. No player follows the other but the ultimate goal is the same. Likewise, we humans follow a common goal of being content. Not getting over-stuffed but content. Being hungry will lead you to fulfilling each target. Being greedy will fill you up with whatever you can grab in the moment. We need to be the former, we need to hungry because we are the influencers.
Innate uncertainty through a negative outlook on life comes when we keep missing out on what we are doing, because of what we want to do or what we have done. This conundrum is 360 degrees in nature. As repetitive as rebounding a ball against two walls, it won’t stop till we catch the ball and analyse where we are. Even a GPS system provides us with what we should do to get us where we should be. Pausing and catching your breath might slow you down in the moment but it’ll definitely help you regain momentum for a longer duration.
A vision is as useful as the path we create for it in the moment. So I urge you to tie your laces to keep your balance, in order to create a step for now and not the indefinite tomorrow.
The essence of capturing “now” is as synonymous to this words mirror image of having “won” that moment. This cliché is as true as it can be for those who practice it. These are the trend-setters, those who believe in continuity for a better tomorrow, with the best for today.
I have interacted with several leaders of today and tomorrow. Mistakes have been the key propeller to their successes. Learning from errors in the moment resulted in fine tuning plans for the future.
I was once told, ‘time isn’t the best form of experience. Experience is the best form of experience.’ This riddle wrong footed me multiple times, till I finally cracked a bit of the puzzle, after meeting another leader who introduced me to the other side of the coin. We sat in his office filled with frames, many empty, several filled with past achievements that brought an expression of happiness to his face. ‘After all that has passed, over the years that has accumulated built up memories, I am still confused. The difference now is, I am glad I am still confused because I am constantly learning.’
Failure over time taught me to mend my ways in the moment because I knew when I tripped. Regret deters me from success because while I turn my head to look back at the fall, I fall again.
It’s true, hope is a two way street that leads to failure and regret. It is in our hands which way we turn the wheel. Failure is the first step to success and so is capitalizing “now”.
Patience isn’t waiting for it to happen but making it happen quicker. Hope is the glass we hold, whilst our actions the drink that keeps us going.
Embrace now, for tomorrow.
