Fail your way to success
Through My Eyes
By Jason Sapp
jsapp00@highlands.edu
Staff Writer 
An epiphany occurs when a person's consciousness is expanded from the realization and understanding of a new concept that changes one's thought processes forever.
A movie I saw recently had this very effect on me.�The
movie was the �Butterfly Effect,� starring Ashton Kutcher. The director uses deep and disturbing material to instill the underlying concept into the consciousness of the viewer.
In the movie, the main character has the power to go back into time to change his actions and turn the future into a different outcome.
The interesting part was that he had no control over the resulting outcome. Each trip led to a new reality with some good and some bad effects resulting from his new actions and decisions.
Everyone has events that they would like to go back and change so that the future result would be a different outcome.
After watching this movie, I drove home deep in thought about my own past actions, what I could have done differently and how it would have affected my future.
If I hadn't dropped out of school years ago, I could have a high paying job, a nice house and a fancy car. If I had been there for my brother more during his troubled times, maybe we would have more of a relationship right now. If I had appreciated my one true love more, she might not have slipped through my fingers and married someone else.
On the other hand, just as the movie points out, different actions don't always turn the end results into something more favorable.
If I had made the changes in the past that I just spoke about, I could very well hate my job or be divorced with two kids and high child support payments.
Events, past and present, help mold us into who we are. It is common sense that every action causes a reaction. �What we are not being taught is that we might not see the lasting effects of our actions for many years to come.
The message is that we have the power, through our current actions, to change and control feelings from past decisions as well as shape and control the future.
This universal truth is even stated in a well-known quotation: �God grant me the ability to accept what I can not change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.�
Like many people, I carry the heavy burden of past poor decisions through negative thoughts and feelings. No more. I can't change the past. I can't get lost years or lost loves back, but I can change my feelings about those
events.
I am now working on things I can change. I am back in school, and I am working on my new relationship with my brother. I am proud to say, slowly but surely, we are becoming closer.
I know this is not an easy concept. Most people would rather not think about the past or look to the future. It takes courage to change. All they have to focus on is the long-term positive effect of new current actions.
Sometimes, people don't take these actions because they can't see how small baby steps, taken day after day, will propel them towards success. They are also afraid of failure. Don't be. I say fail your way to success. I once tried to quit smoking and failed. I tried
again and failed. I tried over a hundred times and failed. But you know what, I eventually succeeded. I failed my way to success.
This process can be used with any relationship, problem or goal. The secret is to find a strong trigger, emotional or physical, to help get started.
We all have the power, through our current daily actions, to reshape negative feeling or change the outcome of past events as well as use these same actions to help shape and control our futures.
The benefits that come from the peace of mind from doing so will be priceless. All we have to do is have the courage to get started
|
