If you are discouraged at this particular point of your life and happen to stumble upon this post, it happens for a reason. You see, I used to believe in coincidences. Later on, I don't believe in that anymore. Fate works in mysterious ways and we mere mortals more often than not, have no answers for events upon us. We like to call the most improbable ones coincidences because we cannot fathom the possibility of so many things happening at the right place and the exact time. Nonetheless, the purpose of this post is not a debate on whether a coincidence is a supernatural phenomenon or a series of cause and effect.
When I was young, someone once told read me a quote, "If in doubt, don't. If still in doubt, do what's right."
Sounds about right, until I grew up to realise not all smart-sounding quotable quotes are wise. In fact, many are actually fundamentally stupid. The one above is one. If in doubt, don't. Don't what? Don't proceed? Don't stop? Don't doubt? Do what's right? What's right to whom? Who decides what's right? If you ask me, the doubtful are usually not in the right frame of mind to decide what is right most of the time. I think I am the best person to tell you this and I write this post to remind myself - and you - to keep moving, doubt or not doubt.
There is this quote from Jung, 1969, that there is no linear evolution; there is only the circumambulation of the self..." June had this idea that each and everyone of us has a potential, future self in a form of everything we could be. That is not the same as saying we could be anything we want. I don't believe in that. In fact, that sounds like a line straight from the snowflake generation, many of which follow a similar sort of mantra only to fall into great disappointment and left uninspired, demotivated and broken. Well, we need to understand the difference between being anything we want to be and anything we can be. The former involves the breaking of limits and often - depending on what you envisage to be - include limits way beyond the realms of possibility. The latter focus on fulfilling our potential, that itself involves the breaking of limits because the journey to our maximum potential is extremely difficult itself.
That is why this insight allows us to focus on ourselves, instead of comparing ourselves to external variables. It gives us the stability of the mind to concentrate on fixing what has broke and building new blocks to stand on and new steps to climb. Our full potential manifest itself through tiny blocks in the form of tiny moments to moments, like an animation, in our present life. It does so by making us interested in things. These things would guide us along the path to lead us to maximal development.
However, we have to understand that human being naturally suck at doing new things. We look like complete fools when we try to do something new. The older we are, the most idiotic we look. Have you ever taught an elderly how to use a smart phone? Did you remember wondering why he or she was struggling to simple concepts that felt like fish to water to you?
In any tarot cards deck, The Fool is numbered 0 in the deck. It represents unlimited potential. That is our position whenever we try to learn something new. To grow, it is paramount to adapt to constantly being the fool, for it is easy to mistaken the honing of certain skills for the plateaus we are moving on for a longest time.
When we take the role of a fool, any idea we want to work on will seem to be a stupid idea and we are probably correct. The probability that - as we move forward in our adventures - that we are going to get it right the time time, is close to zero. That is why using failure as a stick to beat ourselves is the stupidest thing to do. One of most quoted statistics about failures is 95% or 99% - whichever makes you feel better quoting - of the business startups fail within the first 5 years. Moral of the story? Shrug, I don't know. I guess when someone quotes you that, he or she wants you not to give it a try. But you know what? For that 1-5% of the business that succeed today, they were probably part of the 95% that failed within the past 5 or even 10 years and that they never stop learning and be better.
Sometimes we move so slowly that we seem like we aren't moving. That is okay, as long as we move. Procrastination is often equate to laziness. Perhaps, when it comes to boring menial tasks. However when it comes to pursuing a goal, I see procrastination as the embodiment of fear. We should not sit around and wait for things to fall into place because if we do not move along, learn and grow, we will be too stupid to even realise when we have gotten things right. Even if the perfect opportunity manifested itself to us, in our unfulfilled form, the chance that we would recognise it, is close to zero. We might even think it is the worst possible idea we ever heard of. All being said, it is better to do things badly then not doing anything at all. It is never to late to start that journey.
When I was stuck and seemingly trapped in a viscous cycle, I sent messages to people of the past and one of them I knew via this blog long ago, Liz, replied and told me she 'didn't do well' because the plans she told me about a few years back has not materialised because 'she doesn't have enough capital.' She made it sound things were trapped in square one until she told me about her sending herself to a goat grooming course. There she learnt the basics of giving care to goats, which will one day be invaluable when she finally buys her first batch of goats in her future ranch in Malaysia.
She reminded me to take small steps towards my goals. Most importantly, never to stop because walls and chasms are expected in any journeys worth embarking on. These obstacles are the manifestation of the limits of our potentials meant to be broken to unlock the part of us we never know.
It is okay to look like a fool. For that is the way we are created to learn. Keep moving. Keep moving. It is okay to be slow but keep moving.
Great article! Thank you so much for writing again :)
ReplyDeleteThat one goat farm in the Lim Chu Kang agriculture area is doing very well selling goats milk to lacto intolerent folks all over SG, coz it is said the owner drives a Ferrari. That is his spot in the sun but not my kind of spot in the sun, and we all have to find our own spot, eventually.
ReplyDeleteIt feels good to read your blog again... I have been following your blog since 2013 and was upset when you password locked it. And then strangely, I saw your facebook page today got directed to this post. Long story short, 2014 went to Melbourne for my Masters. 2015 came back and applied for my PR. 2016 I got it finally but lots and lots of obstacles stood my way. I am trying hard to get my ass in Melbourne by August this year. Did the GMAT exam twice to get a shot at the MBA offered by Uni Melbourne. I was trying for a career switch from teaching to business but that door wasnt to be opened. Now, I am trying for a Grad Cert in Educational Research and hopefully, this will allow me to find a research job in the education or social justice related field. Your post encouraged me to keep moving even though I feel it is really difficult. Thanks!
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