None of us should ever consider that the time of youthful mistakes or the past lived in the darkness of misunderstanding, is a life that is wasted. Those experiences gained and mistakes done give each one of us the ability to see what we are capable or incapable of doing.
And it is when we learn of our own limitations that we will finally begin to grow.
But only if we allow ourselves to do so.
Not reaching an imagined goal…
Despair comes when we determine a goal to reach or a task to be done or a life we think is what we should live doesn’t meet our imagined goal. When what was perceived to be the right path can’t be achieved, or didn’t come to pass in the way it was anticipated, we grow impatient with ourselves and the world around us because we feel cheated or lied to.
We were told we could be anything we imagined. We could reach any goal we set for ourselves.
But we can’t seem to break through the barriers that keep us from achieving what we set out to do.
Then that desperation kicks in. It tells us we will never be able to succeed. It begins to berate our abilities of ever achieving anything good.
But what if those goals are the wrong goals for us?
We must learn to let ourselves acknowledge our own inabilities. Then we will begin to see just what we are capable of. And when we do, we will realize that we may not have chosen the right path towards a goal.
Moreover, we can then accept that we may have chosen the wrong goal.
We may see someone else reach the heights or desires we think we should have. But once we realize that we are not those individuals, we can learn what is the right path for ourselves.
Each one of us is created for a particular purpose. Interjecting our flawed understanding of that purpose often times leads us down a road of roses filled with harsh thorns. The path becomes unsatisfactory, and the walk is painful.
It is not to say that another person is unable to give good direction. Everyone is in another person’s life for a reason. But to be led by the machinations of another person and their opinions will only lead to a road filled with difficulties.
The same is true when we set our sights on being the type of person we aren’t meant to be. Both are a fool’s journey.
A short person will never be a great basketball player. Someone with no sense of humor will make a very poor comedian. And an individual with no artistic skill will never make millions selling paintings.
Advice should be taken in, compared with the talents and capabilities that is possessed naturally. Then set as an option to be chosen.
The same should be determined when we desire to achieve an ideal goal someone else has achieved.
We need to learn to be content with who we are…
When we understand what we are capable of, we will be able to determine if a goal we choose to pursue is suitable to our makeup. Perhaps it is. Effort to reach a goal will take hard work.
But if a goal is the wrong one, the journey will be discouraging and miserable. Most likely it a goal in which the talents, skills, and capacities are not in alignment with the who we are.
Each of us should find out what we are capable of doing, and what we enjoy. Then determine what we do well.
When you find what you enjoy, and it is something you are capable of doing, then go for it.
Learn who you are first. The rest will fall into place.