There Goes My Second Hubcap!
"Excuse me miss," the older gentleman said, pulling up next to me at the red light, "thought you should know, you lost a hubcap about a half mile back. It rolled right into someones yard."
I thanked him with an embaressed laugh and pulled away as soon as the light turned green. Two more minutes up the road, I watched in my rear view mirror with further humiliation, as another one of my hubcaps went rolling off of my wheel, landing someplace on the side of the road.
The car I was driving was a "hand me down" and a blessing. It was in great shape and just needed some minor TLC to make it look less like trash and more like treasure. Hubcaps were one of the minor things it needed. It was missing several, so I had picked some up at the auto parts store that afternoon. I was in a hurry when I put them on so I only half-glanced at the instructions before smacking them into place and patting myself on the back in recognition of my resourcefulness.
A short time later, when I arrived at my destination, it wasn't exactly the surprise of the century to see that I had ultimately lost three out of the four hubcaps I'd installed that afternoon. My friends laughed their asses off as I told them about the ridiculousness of me driving through town, hubcaps flying off my car in all directions.
The thing is, I had everything I needed, to fix the problem I was trying to fix that day- I just hadn't put the parts together correctly so they could not serve the purpose they were capable of.
This memory - although laughable- feels relevent to me as I am beginning my journey with WA.
I have had an interest in internet marketing for several years now and while I know some basic concepts and I understand the way the "vehicle" SHOULD work, I haven't really followed instructions to assure that I put the pieces in place correctly. (This can probably be said quite often about various things in life.)
I see the complainers out there. Do you see them too? The ones who try something whole heartedly for a short amount of time, then dwindle to a half-ass, partial attempt at building something, before finally giving up amidst complaints that "this doesn't work". They've got all the excuses and none of the results. Those are not my people.
I'm good friends with failure. I've experienced it in all its pain, humiliation and bruising reality. I've looked it in the eye as it swiftly overtook me, knocked me down and kicked the wind out of me. I've lived through the proverbial "hubcaps of my life" flying off the vehicle I thought was ready for the drive, only to find out there were pieces missing- things I had overlooked.
The thing is, there is so much learning that happens in failure. The Nelson Mandela quote goes: "I never lose. I either win or learn"... and that's the perspective I want to live by. Some of the best lessons of my life and even some of my best memories have come from a failure. Things I never would have known about myself and others...strength, grace, kindness... so much good!
After I lost my hubcaps, I went and bought new ones the next day, read the directions and took the proper time and focus to put them on my wheels correctly (it's not exactly rocket science ladies and gentlemen). It truly was not even complicated- but it did need to be done correctly. It would have done me no good to get mad at the hubcaps or my car- I had what I needed. I just had to attach them the way they were designed to fit.
So here I am. Still, with a strong interest in internet marketing, ready to take the time and focus it takes to make this "vehicle" work. Winning may or may not happen right away but either way, all is good. We either win or we learn and here's to both! (High five!)
High five to all of you whether you're winning or learning today!
Holly :)
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Very good insight. With that, we hope to learn and win at the same time. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for posting that, i saw myself in your post and i would have gotten mad with the hub caps and accused them of being cheap without realizing that it not them that's the problem, it's me being quick to judge without even analyzing the problem first.
Right?! I actually WAS mad at the hubcap but it was such a good life lesson once I talked myself down. Lol!
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loved it, very inspiring. and we all might still lose a hub cap or two before were done, but you know what, we all took the challenge and i for one will follow this one through.