Making Mistakes

Growing forward like a musical tree

Mistakes don’t feel great, but they’re not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes we aren’t trying to do the right thing in the first place and failing means a better outcome for those around us… maybe even better for us in the long run, too. We can get trapped in our ideals, especially when we lack new ideas. The past doesn’t always inform our future the way we’d hope.

Looking back we see our successes and they can mislead. What worked before doesn’t have to work again. Maybe what we thought worked wasn’t the key element of our success in the first place. Perhaps we just thought it was because of fortunate timing, or an invisible champion working in our corner without our knowledge. How do we measure the effects of those who love us working for our benefit when we don’t see what their doing or realize they’re even do it? What of the benefits of our culture, our family, our friends?

And how dark does the world become when all the lights in our life are extinguished by time? When those who invested in us have moved on to younger stock. How many of us can truly stand on our own? Especially when the more we travel down our own unique path the fewer follow. Have you ever gotten lost while pursuing your dream? I bet you have, and I bet you found refuge in the familiar even as your soul begs to discover something new.

Creation is a requirement of growth and growth is the only way forward. Don’t be afraid to twist in the wind for an afternoon. Let nature hold you up to the sun. Her success is your success. Align your goals with the natural order and you won’t be lost in the noise. You’ll discover opportunity and in that moment you’ll create something no-one else could. You’ll own the time, the place, and the reason. You’ll find purpose and realize that purpose is temporary, as fleeting as the opportunities you didn’t see.

That you must create your own purpose in harmony with the needs of the moment. It isn’t about you or me or any single living creature. It’s about growing forward together. The ironic thing about forward is it can face any direction. It isn’t judged by a relative position in space or time. It’s a tempo, a beat, a back beat, a quarter beat, a loop, and repeat. Be like music. Compose your day, don’t just play it.

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