What makes life really unique? What makes a life truly special? What makes one person’s existence stand out among the millions of people who are living and have lived before?
It is not by doing the same thing someone else has done in the past, it is not by simply retracing the steps of someone successful and achieving the same things they did. It is about blazing your own trail and using your unique story to redefine the meaning of the word “possible”.
Every single person on this planet has something to bring to the plate that no one else in the world can bring and that is there personal story. There is nothing wrong with emulating people that you admire as long as you make sure to be clear that you are not trying to be that person, but trying to be an example of the traits you loved about that person.
Very often people will be afraid of “taking steps back” because they feel as though they have come so far. They don’t want to lose any of the progress they have made. But have you ever considered the possibility that you might be on the wrong path? That the steps backward you might take when you make a mistake could be moving you closer to the path you are supposed to be on?
No one ever said that “one step forward, two steps back” was in a straight line. Life isn’t just like walking on a neatly paved road with a clear end in sight. It is like driving down a rocky, bumpy, road with tons of unexpected twists and turns. Sometimes the sun shines brightly down on you and other times you feel as though you are caught in the middle of a vicious thunderstorm. Above all, the road ahead isn’t clear, there is a fog sitting just off in the distance that keeps you from seeing exactly what will come next.
Just beyond that fog is the unknown and sometimes the fear of what is beyond that fog stops people from moving. They sit in the same spot on the road, in the dark, knowing they don’t want to be there, but too afraid to move forward.
Often times, the most exciting, enriching, and fulfilling experiences that come about in your life will not be when you stay on the road that is paved for you, the “safe route”. True fulfillment comes from following your heart and going off the beaten trail. Walking for miles, sometimes alone, in search of the meaning you know your life is meant to have. Then all of a sudden you will find yourself on the edge of a cliff looking out on the most beautiful sight your eyes have ever taken in. Or you might come to the calmest most serene beach where you can stop for awhile and think. Then, you can continue on your journey with the new knowledge and experiences you have created for yourself.
Don’t let life guide you or drag you along with it, run out to meet it, then let life run with you. Start today, blaze your own trail and do something no one ever has before!
Photo Credit: http://imgur.com/r/quoteporn/0k6k7xB