Tick Tock
Tick tock like a clock, sitting in the corner, slowly getting to where it needs to be, exactly when it needs to be there.
Our meandering, the big, the small, mimic the continuous motion of the clock, tick-tock. A journey made of the most modest steps, relentless momentum, unseen effort, overlooked actions, and uncelebrated success combine to become the highlights of this life journey.
When born, we are dependent, yet at this stage of life, the concept of needing help, of being dependent, holds no fear, no shame. You reach out for help; you learn to crawl, to walk, to run. The journey is full of ever-mounting failure and fleeting success. But without the defeat, how could we ever experience the concept of success.
Without falling, we would never learn that to try and try again is a very healthy cycle of life, and in many ways, it is a beautiful lesson that teaches us to strive for ever greater heights.
Anyone who has ever achieved their dreams in life knows this at their core. Many say that it is the single thing that drives them forward, to reach for perfection, to fail, yet have the strength to try again.
Olympic athletes were not born as the success you see them as. No, they were born just like you and me, yet they chose to push harder, understanding that the journey to their dreams will be hard-fought, paved with pain and perceived failure.
Everything we want to achieve is well within our grasp. Yet the concept of trying, failing, trying again seems to be a fading memory that mimics the very dream we gave up on, now appearing like another unfulfilled reality, piled on top of the other hopes and dreams we gave up on.
When did we start believing that everything would be easy, or rather everything should be easy? When did we convince ourselves that if it does not happen straight away, then it will never happen? When did we start believing that our dreams should be instant successes, like a road paved in gold, with signs leading the way?
Could it be that our focus was wrong? That perhaps we are looking the wrong way at the wrong things? Only reading the last chapter of every success story, instead of the entire book, hoping that this shortcut will be enough?
Instant success is rare if it exists at all. We all have to work our way to the finish line; we all have to accept that there will be hard times, lonely times, scared times, and times when you just feel like giving up. But if you can accept this and keep pursuing the dreams that only you see, you can achieve anything.
Often the most significant moments in life are the ones we see, the ones we celebrate, the ones we are proud of. Yet, the truth is that all of our most significant moments of life are only possible because of the small and consistent actions we undertake every moment of every day.
Tick Tock like a clock.