‘Destiny is a name often given in retrospect to choices that had dramatic consequences’.
J.K. Rowling
Looking back in retrospect, at moments of destiny, can be a terrible thing. Dreadful, because doing so distorts and hides the opportunities that present themselves each day. Retrospective navel gazing glamorizes the end result, but overlooks and largely ignores the importance of the ongoing process.
It ignores the struggles, insecurities, and the tenacity of the many decades of work.
When you look back, you realize that of course you should have bought some Apple stock when it was beginning to reassert itself on the market. You were so silly to hesitate.
And when you think about it, isn’t it terribly obvious that Harry Potter was going to be the next big thing? So why didn’t you read it, when it first appeared in print? Or see the movie when it was released in the theatre?
Why didn’t you buy a McDonald’s or a Tim Horton’s franchise when it was affordable? When they were growing their business. When everyone was looking elsewhere. When nobody saw it coming.
Their rise and prominence was a matter of destiny.
A divine ordinance.
A matter of luck.
But thats not true.
Destiny doesn’t account for the millions and millions of tiny little choices and trillions of setback that become the foundation of something beautiful.
Destiny overlooks the courage it takes to share what you have made, or to say I’m sorry, to pay back your wrongs, or to forgive and make peace with the past.
Destiny gives ordinary decisions dramatic consequences and in turn discourages others from pushing forward.
You may not be the next big thing, but that doesn’t matter.
You have a voice.
An important voice and some unfinished business.
A toy box full abandoned projects and ideas.
Get back at it or keep at it.
Make your mark.
Don’t let looking back prevent you from dreaming forward.
Seize the moment.
Speak. Write. Sing. Dance.
Be counted.
