You can make a wrong right.
You can’t go back and pre-perfect the wrong that has passed.
We are works in progress, not works in perfection.
Perfection is about punctuation that marks an ending of something. Right is about a progression and continuation of that which is true and noble.
Perfection touts the finish line. Right boasts in the journey.
Doing, building, and pursuing what’s right inches us ever so closer to living a life that can one day look back with the hope and sense of perfection.
My wife and I have three year old girl that lives with us. There’s no doubt you’ll come to know her one day, but for now let’s just call her Story.
Story has many talents, but one of my favorite talents she has is her patent-pending ability to use words that start with a ‘L’ and pronounce them as though they start with a ‘Y”.
Some may call this a flaw to correct, but to me it’s flare to celebrate.
Who said you can’t make funny faces with your music?
Who said keep your tongue in during a slam dunk?
Who said flowers were supposed to be painted right-side up?
Leaders, take a yook and yisten to the flare of your followers.
One’s mean, median, and mode is not what they were sent here to illuminate with.
…what you have been becoming.
Or put another way, you are what you have been.
So what do you want to be?
Maybe the more important question is are you willing to become that which you want to be?
We follow those who courageously dive into the art of becoming.
Truths:
…Tomorrow tends to feed off today.
…Gradually we are something then suddenly the world notices it.
…We, eventually, get what we want. (Most wants are shallow, easy, & microwaveable) (Which is why we go back to them)
…Your dreams are valid.
Your norms got you here. Wherever you’re holding a phone, wherever you’re at a desk, or wherever a computer is in your lap is a byproduct of your norms.
And your norms will get you where you’re going.
Here’s some math: The time you normally get up + The way you normally respond + The way you normally react + The way you normally eat + The way you normally drink + The way you normally love + The way normally see the world + The way you normally feel moments + The way you normally touch lives + The way you normally hear + What you normally read + What you normally watch + Who you normally hang out with + The words you normally exchange in the mirror = you in your normal state.
The more we look at what has been the norm and the more we look into what is the norm, now, the more we will see what the norm will always be.
It’s frightening to look sometimes at our norms, is it not?
But what if frightening offered a shadow of health?
I just have to believe the ‘yet to be’ > the ‘already’, but the ‘yet to be’ that we all dream of is simply not possible with the norms that have already gotten us here.
Remember…change is synonymous with life, beauty, presence, meaning, purpose, and fulfillment.
Would you rather be able to say “I’m glad I did” or “I wish I had”?
Would you rather have a short-term fix or be long-term greedy?
Would you rather have money or meaning?
Or would you rather pursue meaning on the way to something that is profitable?
The scary thing is this is the game most of us haven’t realized we’re playing. And here’s a shot of truth: choosing not to play doesn’t get you out of the game.
Show me your choices and I’ll show you the music you are making and the music you will have chosen to be made.
There isn’t much that should surprise us.
Ashton.Gustafson 