“You are just not there yet.” Colin Patrick’s words cut through to my soul as I swallowed my tears and looked at the ground to hide the frustration in my eyes. This was my first trailing assessment and I had been so sure that I would get level 2. I just wanted to be a professional trails guide, but now the goal felt unreachable.
“Level 1 is good. It means you can follow footprints. Next time keep your head up and follow the trail.” I stared at Colin’s grin as he continued, “don’t make friends with the tracks. Use them to confirm the trail, the bigger picture. A senior assessment will break your spirit. Use these junior assessments as a means of upgrading yourself to pass senior.” Then he said something that I will never forget. “You need to learn how to walk before you can learn how to run.” It is such a simple saying, but so true in life.
If you fear failure, you will never succeed. If you do not learn how to walk because you are so afraid of falling, then you will never learn how to run. Remember that [each attempt] is never a failure, it is always a lesson. Rather regret the things that you have done, than the things that you have not.
Often the grass looks greener on the opposite side from where you are, and you wish that you could just jump over there immediately. You may believe that you will instantly be happier there, and that you will have everything that you ever dreamed of. The question is, will you really be happier? Is it really that great?
From a distance it looks nice and green with no problems. What you don’t see is the amount of dung which causes the grass to be so green, but also causes a lot of thorns and weeds to grow. The green grass also attracts more ticks which bring diseases. And who knows how many snakes and scorpions hide in it? So, is it really that great? Yes, it is, when the time is right and when you are well prepared and know how to handle thorns, ticks, snakes, and scorpions.
So how do you prepare yourself? By not rushing the journey there. If you jump there now, you are likely to fail, but if you accept the (often winding) journey and learn how to deal with the challenges along the way that upgrade your knowledge and personality, then you will succeed when the time is right.
I might not be there yet, but as long as I keep going, and don’t give up, I will get there. It might not be as soon as I want it to be, but everything worthwhile takes time.
