Better Left To Chance, Than to Miss "The Dance" – A Message for Everyone in Business & in Life

220px Garth Brooks at We Are One edit - Better Left To Chance, Than to Miss "The Dance" - A Message for Everyone in Business & in Life

Garth Brooks singing the Don McLean song “American Pie” at the We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial concert. Source: Wikimedia, author: Steve Jurvetson

Holding you, I held everything
For a moment, wasn’t I the king?
But if I’d only known how the king would fall
Hey who’s to say?  You know I might have changed it all
And now, I’m glad I didn’t know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives, are better left to chance, I could have missed the pain
But I’d of had to miss The Dance.

The above lyrics are from one of my all-time favorite songs called “The Dance,” sung by Garth Brooks. This song is about the value of following our hearts, having the courage to pursue our dreams; regardless of the unfortunate events and circumstances that may take place along the way. In other words, we will never know what we are capable of achieving, or what life has to offer unless we jump in and participate in The Dance.

Yes, you will be entering unknown territory, but that’s where the adventure is. Your adventure into the unknown is where you experience who you are and what you’re made of. It’s where your character is tested and molded. When you take that leap of faith you are sending a message to yourself as well as the entire universe that you are not only here, but qualified and ready to face any challenge along the way.

You may be on top one day and suddenly fall the next but think about this. Isn’t it better to fall than not to try at all? In my view everyone in business and in life needs to adhere to this message.

We can strategically plan our personal and professional lives, we can make careful use of our choices and take what we think are the appropriate actions to fulfill the ideal life we want. But there is absolutely no way of knowing with certainty what will happen. There are just too many variables and unexpected twists and turns that come into play.

There is no sure way of knowing how our lives will wind up.

Well guess what? We’re not supposed to. If we did, the thrill of life would cease to exist.

As the Super Bowl is approaching, I am reminded of a time I was watching the big game at a hotel I was staying at. There were well over 100 people in the lounge area. Everyone was yelling and cheering for their team to win. It was an incredibly close game. Every time a team scored or made a great play, fans would jump out of their seats and cheer them on. It was obvious that everyone was excited and enjoying themselves. But that excitement and enjoyment was coming from the anticipation of not knowing which team was going to prove to be victorious.

My question to you, dear reader, is this: what would be the point in watching the Super Bowl or any other sporting event if we knew beforehand which team would win? Who could deny that it’s in the not-knowing that makes it exciting?

It’s the same with our lives which has often been referred to as a game. Unlike any other game however; the goal in the game of life is not as to whether we come out on top or unscathed; but rather it’s to follow our hearts and to experience, learn, grow and become. If we possessed the magical power to see into the future and knew the outcome of a particular road we chose to follow, our lives would be boring, to say the least. We would be unchallenged to discover our essence. We would be robbing ourselves of the events that cause us to grow.

It is the combination of our victories, successes, and happy moments – as well as our disappointments, failures and heartaches that make up the ingredients to the recipe of our lives. It’s in the not-knowing – the uncertainty that makes our lives worthwhile.

 

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