Get Back on Track!

This today’s discourse I wrote immediately after suffering a concussion, because I felt like sharing an experience with you that I, to this extend, have not felt in a long time: unforeseen adjustments.

All of a sudden I was in a position in which I could not pursuit and accomplish my day’s plans, an unexpected action had put me on hold, this unforeseen event looked me dead in the eye saying: stop, sit down, relax, you will continue your deeds tomorrow. I did not like it at all, I thought about the plans I had for that day and how I was simply powerless and unable to work things off my to-do list. What does that mean for and to me? Does my momentum stop here and I have to start all over again? Is that a sign of failure, for I was not able to keep up the momentum, was I not perseverant enough? Is this the end of ambition, of my plans, is that what Langston Hughes referred to as a dream deferred? Well, it took me a while to figure out what has happened, and the answer to all these questions is simple: NO!

I was merely confronted with a new challenge: getting back on track. And I was excited to take on this challenge, because the U.S. American professor and author Maya Angelou stated quite truly that "nothing will work unless you do." I have to do, I have to get back up on it, and despite this little delay get back on track, and do...and then things will work again; and I will regain my momentum. This is where heart comes into play (and this is exactly why I consider it, among perseverance, one of the main pillars of success): if your heart is strong, you do not let days of unforeseen events get in your way. You depreciate them, call 'em a day, and continue with the same amount of heart, believe, and dedication as before. And these days do have a great side effect: they reveal, how much you have already accomplished on your relentless way to success—use this retrospect as fuel for the next and further steps in life.

Why is this not as easy as it reads? Because once we lose our momentum we immediately tend to trigger a bunch of 'what if' questions, leading us sometimes even as far as questioning our lives and deeds. If you want to continue after this unforeseen day of deferral, look back and take stock—and see this day of pause, on hold, as an intermediate stage on your long road to success...and furthermore be grateful and happy about the things you have already accomplished up to this day. Follow the words of legendary baseball icon George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr., who said: "Don’t let the fear of striking out hold you back." Continue to do what you do, do not let anything slow you down. Former U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed the freedom of fear in 1941 (as part of his famour Four Freedoms speech); and we shall be free from fear and continue our drive, keep going and doing, get back on our perseverance and back on our track. Fear to fail, fear to drop out, fear to screw up, fear to lose grip? No, I do not understand these definitions. Let’s be free from fear, and get back on track, because we are of great heart.

...and you know what’s really impressive after a day on hold? When we get back to work immediately after like nothing ever happened—and this is how we do it!