If you’re life’s tailor made to make you thrive, have everything figured out, make no mistakes, have no regrets, always chart your way forward every morn with laser guided precision, accomplish every task with pin prick detail, going to bed satisfied of all you’ve achieved, then this isn’t for you.
This is for those, like me, who have tripped (and fell), are aware of their blunders, recognize their fears and know that the world isn’t perfect, partly because of their erroneous contributions.
“It’s all in your hands. You can change your destiny today”, the man hollered. His was a perfect rags to riches story. His royal blue Italian suit and the glare from his polished shoes concealed the fact that his childhood and teenage years were traumatic. From separated parents, to a crime ridden neighborhood to going to bed with nothing to satisfy the biting hunger pangs, he had once believed that his tunnel didn’t have an end.
Now he stood in front of an attentive corporate audience illustrating the inability of circumstances to change a determined man’s destiny.”Through belief in ability to change my world, and the tenacious pursuit of my dreams, I have succeeded against all odds”. I soaked in his every word like parched earth drinking the rain. His formula was no different from most other motivational speakers, but his enthusiasm lit a fire inside me. I embarked on a mission to turn my vision into action.
What followed was a week of goal setting, daily planning and target charts. I started seeing fruits of my now organized life. Days later I started slowly slipping out of this rigorous schedule. I performed badly in a task, but I quickly made amends. I didn’t quickly bounce back when I missed an important appointment, delayed important projects or when I made stupid blunders at work.
“How could you make such mistakes?” A raspy voice whispered in my ears. “And this with all the knowledge that you have!” And the corporate money spent on inspirational seminars? And you thought you were intelligent?” Fear stealthily crept in. Fear turned into worry, worry into depression. The result of this was more mistakes. Nobody seemed to understand. I could as well give up on this goal setting thing, I thought.I was demotivated.
At the depth of my valley there was no other way to look but up. My Creator knows all about this, I figured out. In my darkness I thought I heard a still voice saying, “You’ll make more mistakes despite your determination not to”. “This isn’t encouraging”, I retorted. The Voice, now more audible, replied,” You’ve heard about the successes of great men but little of their failures. The world over glorifies their successes while readily forgiving their failures, but the truth is each of these people have their own fears and big time messes. No one always does it right, that’s why keyboards come with delete keys, pencils with erasers and white-out is ordered along with office stationery.
I've always known your shortcomings. The only way is to look up to me for wisdom on how you’ll steer your course. Men always make mistakes, but they fulfill their destiny despite their issues.”
Now I realize that failing makes me the perfect candidate as a vessel to give hope to real people, struggling with real issues in an imperfect world. I hope that one day, when I’ll write my story someone will look and say, he messed around, but he still made it. He was not a Superman, but he trusted in One who was. God held his hand and led him through out of all the muddles he was in, therefore I can make it because like him, I’m an ordinary human with an extraordinary destiny.
