For the last (almost) five years, I have been running a technology company I cofounded in 2011. It began innocently enough: a big idea sparked bigger action and now my biggest question is “how the hell did I get here?”
I assume that most of us find ourselves in places we didn’t expect. Life seems (to me) less about a series of “choices” and more a field of happening, wherein we are constantly flowing out of the center of the mysterious beings we are. I didn’t select from option C: Business Man, over say F: Astronaut or Q: Stripper (I just don’t have the assets to be an astro stripper). I somehow flowed through this continuous river of happening under the pull of some gravity tuned exactly to who or what I am.
All through the crazy ups and downs of this roller coaster ride I have sucked on the thumb of the adage “I’m right where I should be, because I’m only where I am.”
When things are going well… oh how obvious it all is! This is my story! I’m doing it! I can’t fail because I’m right where I should be!
But when outcomes are other than expected, or things get tough (and given enough time they always do) – I can face instead a mocking uncertainty that sneers with the possibility that all I’ve done and have worked for was wasted. I missed the signs. I took a wrong turn… I’m not as great as I thought.
While the stories of the ages ring with tales of weary souls utterly put-on by events and hardships, the hero is one that keeps cool in the face of insurmountable odds, who is free of regrets or self pity, and who continues to flow unhindered – using the set pieces of the ugly situation to tell an even grander story.
While my bookshelf is overfull with bound embodiments of these beliefs… I recently saw one of the most strikingly artistic examples of this philosophy-in-action while watching Adventure Time with my 4 year old son. And I share it with you now so that next time you find yourself battling Orgalorg in space… you’ll also find in yourself the auto-tuned wisdom of the sages:
“Everything’s falling into place,
I’m right where I should be.
The times of life all led me here,
And that’s why I’m not scared.
I know the answer will appear,
Pleeeeeeaaaaasssseeee….”
Cheers.