Sun in the sky
Immersed in the field
Tending to the crop
Working tirelessly to ensure yield.
Sat at a desk.
By the hands, a keyboard is grazed
Eyes fixated on the screen
Committed to the work, no matter the hour of the day.
Stood in front of a crowd
Podium grasped with the hand to the right
Glancing at notes from time to time
Striving to inspire or delight.
Feet behind the line
Awaiting the go
Ready to take the skill that has been built
To perform for the show.
A good friend of mine recently asked me why I was sorry
After I had shared the sentiment a few times
When something I had worked hard for did not come to fruition,
A failed attempt at a try.
"To whom is your sorry a need?
No sorry Melanie, we simply proceed."
As humans, we work toward things
In our personal and professional lives
We are shown depictions of what it means to succeed.
And what it means to not get it quite right.
The acceptance of a proposal
A paper or a grant.
The strong yield of our garden,
Our field to which we tend.
An applause from the crowd
Honors and medals
The winning of the race.
Representations of success which we are to embrace.
When the paper is rejected
When we do not receive the money from the grant.
When the tomato plant dies
When no beans can be found on the stem.
When we hear boos or silence
When a crowd does not gather where we plan to speak.
When no honor is bestowed
When we do not make the team.
These could all be deemed failure
A mess-up,
An instance when we did not perform quite right.
I am grateful to have a friend
Who gave me some uplifting insight.
I had worked hard on a grant
For a project that his community needs
Funding that would implement a plan
To mitigate severe water scarcity.
He heard my sorries
Told me that they had no place
Then reminded me of the quote; to which he had often held faith.
"It is not how we are successful, but how we are faithful"
Mother Theresa of Kolkata once said.
"The money will come,
As it is supposed to, in its time.
For now, we remember this
And so we try, and try and again... try."
A profound lesson is there
A shifted focus on outcomes in life
A hint toward an eternity
Where success and failure are not the focus of life.
A nod toward reality
Of the humanity in our beings
An understanding that capturing the actualization of our desires
May not be the outcome of all scenes.
A message of reassurance
A grounded note to hold hope.
A challenge to those beliefs
That life often tries to teach us as we go.
