Right. How many times have you punched the wall because you messed up that GPA that really counted? How many times have you starved yourself when you had a refrigerator full of munchables due to that hopelessness throbbing inside you? How many times have you shut your eyelids out of desperation from failure and tried to look ahead, inside your head, to see dear future and ask if you still have a chance to hold it's hand?
Probably many times.
I sure did. Sometimes, still do. And why would we not? That future we hold dear, is what we do everything we do, for. We lay out plans. And we try to execute them. And we expect everything to go as planned. But here’s the truth. Nothing goes as planned. Life as well in its entirety doesn’t. So why should your career?
I’m not trying to reel you off the course of hard work and lead you astray here, but I implore you to think. You made a mistake. So what? No one remembers how you fell; what matters is how you bounce back up! It’s okay to screw up a step or two in your path. Hell, it’s okay to screw up three. The key here is that you DO NOT LOSE SIGHT OF YOUR DESTINATION. And as much as I’d like to eliminate it, HARD WORK.
But things in life will go out of the layout. Situations will spin out of control. You WILL mess up. You designed a course to your dream that you thought was accurate, but you will encounter unexpected hurdles. There may times when the dam will give way to rivers obstructing your path, or you may encounter a dogmatic ass that refuses to give way no matter what. Other times, you will need to have patience. No matter how destructive the storm, it will eventually pass. And the destruction it causes may help you build something much sturdier. It will cost you time but it will be stronger.
I don’t have gray hair; I have no reason to list my experiences here. Like you, I’m still on the earlier stages of my own journey. But I will tell you, my journey thus far has been far from smooth. And at times I wonder if I’m still on the path that I should be on. I have fallen hard in places where I couldn’t afford even the slightest slip of traction. But there I was, covered in slime. I looked up to those who are where I want to be. And I saw that none of their paths were identical, or predictive of where they ended up.
The head of design at Ferrari has a degree in architecture. The head of the Top Gear magazine got a degree from MIT in engineering, but he’s running a magazine where people seldom revel in the glory of numbers. The Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson got fired from his own show and people thought it was his end, but it landed him in a better position. Now these are just end results, but there has to be struggle behind each of these endings. I know of some. And they are harsh. Also, not all beginnings end in success but even that can impact positively too.
The Lamborghini Estoque was designed to battle the market along cars such as Porsche Panamera and Aston Martin Rapide. Even though it was a fabulous car, it never saw the green light. But they went on to use what they learned on the Aventador, which became a roaring, fire-spitting success. But there were difficulties. The project almost crashed midway and exploded with errors near the end of the projected timeline, but they came through eventually because they kept at it, never lost sight of what their goal was or who they were. They believed all the way that they could still do it.
So there will be times when you aren’t on the receiving end of the prize that you so deserve; some other nut-job will get it. But that doesn’t mean you’re done. It just means your reward got delayed. And rewards that come later are usually better than the one they come in place of.
So fret not people; things will work out. Take time to appreciate little things around you. Breathe in the mist, let some greenery into your cornea. Listen to what the winds of change have to say. Keep doing what you love. Play. Don’t leave fun out. But when it’s time, study hard; get stuff done like a badass.
I'll get going now. After all, we all have our own journeys to make. I will see you, on the other side.