LIFE is a series of adjustments, readjustments, and re-readjustments. When I was younger, I used to think that there was one surefire way to live life. All you had to do was find what on earth you were good at, and then the stars would align for you while showering you with good fortune and 10,000 children.
How you found what you were good at relied on fortuitous encounters you had with destiny (however you interpret that: a dream, a skilled mentor choosing you out of a field of hundreds, etc.). I’ve since had to recalibrate and tweak my stance on this view of life. Again, adjustments are part and parcel of living on this good, green earth that heaven has blessed us with.
If you don’t believe me, look no further than the people moaning about having to “juggle” and “balance” things in their life. If you’ve ever seen a tightrope act or someone juggling great balls of fire, you’ll quickly understand that both of these matters require constant, dynamic movement to keep center while suspended hundreds of meters from the ground or keep the balls in the air.
And balancing things in life is like that; people sometimes spend too little time with their family, so they adjust, while others spend too much time with their family and also need to adjust. In order to maintain equilibrium, one must constantly recalibrate at every step of the way.
Adjustments also come in to play with the aforementioned quest to find one’s passion in life. I’ve had to come to grips with the fact that some people are fortunate enough to find what they love to do at an early age—maybe even earlier than me. That forces me to get off my behind and work hard, because they have a head start.
I’ve also learned to respect those who find their true calling in their later years—much, much later than I could imagine. This allows me to be gracious with people (myself included) who may not have it all figured out yet, as I have to respect the journey that they’re on as much as I want them to respect mine.
I’ve even had some colleagues who were working in what they thought was their passion area already, only to find at a later time that it was only a teaser for something much bigger and bolder. For me, finding that middle ground of being tenacious while also showing grace is an adjustment I am still making.
No one ever really graduates from having to make adjustments. For all the yuppies reading this, life’s still too short for you to place a period at the end of your story. Continue to hustle and grind away, but put away the blinders and make allowances for life’s surprises. Who knows what or who you might stumble into.
So the next time you’re late for dinner with friends, just tell them to adjust. It’s traffic, okay?